'It happened so. Things don't come out as straight or as nice as we'd like them to—that's the way things come out in life—a bit crooked, tangled, cracked. I only know that I loved you, I couldn't have done otherwise. That's the way things happened to come out. There's no other explanation.'
'And if I had consented to marry you, you'd have put her away.'
'Mildred, don't scold me. Things happened that way.'
Mildred did not answer and Ralph said:
'What are you thinking of?'
'Of the cruelty, of the wretchedness of it all.'
'Why look at that side of it? If I did wrong, I've been punished. She knows all. She has forgiven me. You can do as much? Forgive me, kiss me. I've never kissed you.'
'I cannot kiss you now. I hear her coming. Wipe those tears away. The doctor said that you were to be kept quiet.'
'Shall I see you again?'
'I don't think I can come again. She'll be here.'