“And you’d be willing to marry him with—”
“You don’t understand!” she interrupted, violently. “You never could. You’re too good. And I’m not good—in your way. I was just a child when I met Martin. I’m not a child now. Gayle’s my whole life to me. I love him so that—”
“For God’s sake, stop!” cried Ross. “It’s—infamous! Have you forgotten?”
All the light and passion fled from her face at his tone. She looked up at him in terrified inquiry. Ross stood aside from the doorway, so that she could see the child lying asleep on the bed. She went in very softly, and stood looking down at the little creature.
“You see,” she whispered, “I’ve given up—my soul—for Gayle.”
He took her by the arm and led her out of the room, closing the door behind them.
“Very well!” he said. “On her account, it’s better like this. I’ll take her. And you’ll have to forget her. Do you understand? There’s to be no repentance, and so on. Make up your mind now.”
“No,” she said, faintly. “I can’t. I won’t! I’ll just do what you tell me. You’ve got to decide.”
“What!” he cried, appalled. “You’d try to make me?”
The child gave a little chuckle in her sleep. He thought what the child’s life would be, with Amy, if Amy were denied her Gayle. He thought of Ives. He had taken Ives’s name, and with it the burden that Ives could no longer carry.