"It was not altogether by accident," she said. And I think she
expected me to kill her.
When a man admits and respects a woman's rights where he is himself
concerned, he either is no longer interested in her or has begun to love
her so well that he can control the savage and selfish instincts of
passion. If Mowbray Langdon had been there, I might have killed them both;
but he was not there, and she, facing me without fear, was not the woman to
be suspected of the stealthy and traitorous.
"It was he that you meant when you warned me you cared for another man?"
said I, so quietly that I wondered at myself; wondered what had become of
the "Black Matt" who had used his fists almost as much as his brains in
fighting his way up.
"Yes," she said, her head down now.
A long pause.
"You wish to be free?" I asked, and my tone must have been gentle.
"I wish to free you," she replied slowly and deliberately.
There was a long silence. Then I said: "I must think it all out. I once
told you how I felt about these matters. I've greatly changed my mind since
our talk that night in the Willoughby; but my prejudices are still with me.
Perhaps you will not be surprised at that--you whose prejudices have cost
me so dear.
Pages:
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355