“You cannot grasp it as he would. I—married, and under such circumstances. Love is blind, Edie, and he, poor fellow, may have been blinded in his love—his old love for me. But what if the veil dropped away from his eyes at last, and he could not, he dared not face it—the sacrifice for him! Edie, it was that, and I forgive him, for I loved him with all my heart.”
Startled by her cousin’s looks and words, Edie now caught her hands and stood over her, speaking impetuously, almost angrily.
“For shame!” she cried. “Malcolm Stratton would never have acted like that. O Myra; how could you think it of him? So manly and open and frank in everything. Oh, no, no, no; it could not be that.”
Myra turned to her quickly and clung to the hands which grasped hers, as if sinking in her despair, and clutching at one more chance for life.
“Say—say that again,” she whispered huskily.
“I’ll say it a hundred times, but there is no need. Malcolm could not treat you like this of his own freewill. He must be—he is ill, and that is all.”
“If I could only think so,” said Myra as if to herself. “If I could only believe it was that; but no, no,” she wailed now, breaking down utterly, and snatching away her hands to cover her convulsed face; “the truth has been too strong at last, and he has gone.”
“Myra!” cried Edie. “Hush! You shall not give way like this. How can you be so weak? It is madness. If he had treated you so shamefully, and turned away, you could not—you should not, take it to heart. Where is your woman’s pride? To give way, believing such an infamy, is dreadful. But I tell you it isn’t—it can’t be true. There, there, be calm, my darling. Be patient till they come back. He has studied too hard lately—that’s it. I’ve noticed how pale and worried he looked at times, and with this excitement—you heard what Percy said—he has broken down. There, that’s the truth. He’s ill, and will soon be better, and all will come right, Myra! my darling coz. Don’t turn like that. Oh—help! help! help!”
She thrust her cousin back so that her head rested on the lounge, for a deathly look had come over the beautiful face, the eyes were half-closed, sending a chill of horror through the startled girl, who now tore frantically at the bell.
“A doctor—they must fetch a doctor. No; Percy must come back to tell her the simple truth, for I am right: Malcolm Stratton could not treat her as she thinks.”