“Mrs Mallow?” he said, at last.
“No, no!” she cried, passionately. “Call me Sage again. You have forgiven the past.”
“Sage Mallow!” he said, in a low, measured voice.
“You are going to retract your words,” she cried, frantically, as she started up. “You are going to draw back.”
“I have promised you,” he said, quietly, “and my hands, my thoughts, all I possess, are at your service.”
“And you will save him?” she cried, joyously.
He remained silent.
“You will work for him—you will forgive him, and bring him back to me?” she cried, piteously. “Luke—Luke Ross—you will save him from this fate?”
“I did not seek this interview,” he said, sadly. “Mrs Mallow, I would have spared you this.”
“What do you mean?” she cried. “Will you not try?”