"Dangerous…" Gabrielle clutched at the word. "Dangerous!" She became suddenly quiet and intense. "I don't believe you know where the danger lies," she said.
"I can see the most obvious danger, and that's a love affair with a married woman."
"You can't see any other? You said just now that Arthur had changed thanks to my husband. Perhaps my husband took the credit for it and you believed it. But it isn't true. I've seen the change coming hour by hour, day by day. Every moment of it I've watched and treasured. He did not change because he worked with my husband. He changed because I loved him and he loved me. I know it … I've known it all the time. What did your love do for him in all those years? Nothing … nothing at all. For heaven's sake don't think I'm boasting! Your love never changed him a hair's breadth, and you know it!"
Mrs. Payne gasped. "You don't realize what you're saying."
"But I do … I do. You say his body's part of you—belongs to you. I'll give you that. But this soul … his new soul … is mine. That's part of our love. Ours and nobody else's…."
Mrs. Payne choked back her emotion. "I don't grudge it you," she said,
"I only thank God for it gratefully … gratefully."
"But you don't see what I mean," said Gabrielle slowly. "Arthur has changed because he loves me. He's ceased to be cruel because he knows that for him to be cruel pains me. He's learned to see things just as I see them. And now you want to separate us … even after what I have promised you. Can't you see what I'm afraid of?"
She paused, and Mrs. Payne was silent. Gabrielle quickly pressed her advantage.
"If you separate us, if you try to destroy our love, you'll be taking away from him the thing that's saved him. How do you know that he won't slip back again? You can take his body from me … I know that … but you may lose more than you get."
Mrs. Payne stood staring straight in front of her.