"Thank God I was able!" she panted.
"I do not deserve it. Will you forgive me?" he asked brokenly.
"It is I who have to ask that!"
"The past is all wiped out today, so far as I am concerned. God bless you!"
"Ah, thank you for that!—May God forgive me for the mistakes and the folly—the wrong-doing! It is too late now to retrieve them! Ah, those words, 'too late'!—on how many graves?... the words, 'too late'!... Yet—Honor would say it is never too late while there is breath in which to call on—the name of the Lord."
"God is very merciful to all sinners who repent," said Dalton. "I, too, am a sinner. I have been a Pharisee and hypocrite all my life; may I, too, be forgiven!"
"Perhaps this will be taken into the account—my atonement," she sighed feebly.
"You have done what few women in your place would have had the courage to do. I shall remember it all the days of my life with gratitude and remorse."
For a while they were silent as he did all he could to ease her suffering.
"This is death!" she whispered, searching for his face with glazing eyes. "Tell Honor—I wish her the happiness she deserves.... You will love her as you could never have loved me. It is for the best...!"