�No; I promised nothing. He died too suddenly to make me.� Her voice sank to a whisper. �I was free—perfectly free—or I thought I was till I tried.�
�Till you tried?�
�To disobey him—to sell the picture. Then I found it was impossible. I tried again and again; but he was always in the room with me.�
She glanced over her shoulder as though she had heard a step; and to Wyant, too, for a moment, the room seemed full of a third presence.
�And you can�t�—he faltered, unconsciously dropping his voice to the pitch of hers.
She shook her head, gazing at him mystically. �I can�t lock him out; I can never lock him out now. I told you I should never have another chance.�
Wyant felt the chill of her words like a cold breath in his hair.
�Oh�—he groaned; but she cut him off with a grave gesture.
�It is too late,� she said; �but you ought to have helped me that day.�