"It was not the truth that you clung to, Abbott, but appearances. As for me, let truth kill rather than live as a sham. If Grace Noir stays, the worst is going to happen. She may not know how far she's going. He may not suspect he's doing wrong. People can make anything they want seem right in their own eyes. But I've found out that wickedness isn't stationary, it's got a sort of perpetual motion. If we don't drive Grace away, the crash will come."
"Fran—how you must love Mrs. Gregory!"
"She breaks my heart."
"Dear faithful Fran! What can we do?—I say We, Fran, observe."
"Oh, you Abbott Ashton…just what I thought you! No, no, you mustn't interrupt. I'll manage Grace Noir, if you'll manage Bob Clinton."
"Where does Bob Clinton come in?"
"Grace is trying to open a door so he can come in. I mean a secret in Mr. Gregory's past. She suspects that there's a secret in his past, and she intends to send Bob to Springfield where Mr. Gregory left that secret. Bob will bring it to Littleburg. He'll hand it over to Grace, and then she'll have Mr. Gregory in her power—there'll be no getting her hands off him, after that."
"Surely you don't mean that Mr. Gregory did wrong when he was young, and that Miss Noir suspects it?"
"Bob will bring home the secret—and it will kill Mrs. Gregory,
Abbott—and Grace will go off with him—I know how it'll end."
"What is this secret?"