She came close to his chair.
"I am," she said with a sort of feverish eagerness, "no more of a lady now than I was then. I am just what I used to be when I made you ashamed of my ignorance and my mistakes. But if I were pure, if I had never been divorced, if I were standing here your faithful wife, would you be glad?"
"Hush! You are paining yourself and me."
"Jack!"
"For God's sake be still!"
She fell on her knees beside him.
"Jack, say you would be glad."
"If you had never left me, if you had remained my faithful wife, heaven knows that I should be a happier man!"
Bella burst into tears and sobbed convulsively, then pressed her handkerchief to her mouth. It was bright with blood when she withdrew it.
"Oh, be careful of yourself," said John Chetwynd, terribly moved; "you must do what I advise."