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[Pg 482] 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.
“All right!” he said. “It’s finished. I only hope to Heaven that Mr. Solway can end his days without knowing. As for Dexter—he’ll have to take his chance—like the rest of us. Good-by, Amy!”
She caught one of his hands in both of hers, and pressed it against her wet cheek.
“Can you ever, ever forgive me, Jimmy?” she asked, with a sob.