Norton spoke with persuasive tenderness:
"You mustn't think of such madness! I'll send you abroad at once and you can begin life over again——"
Helen suddenly snatched the chair to which she had been holding out of her way and faced Norton with flaming eyes:
"I don't want to be an exile! I've been alone all my miserable orphan life! I don't want to go abroad and die among strangers! I've just begun to live since I came here! I love the South—it's mine—I feel it—I know it! I love its blue skies and its fields—I love its people—they are mine! I think as you think, feel as you feel——"
She paused and looked at him queerly:
"I've learned to honor, respect and love you because I've grown to feel that you stand for what I hold highest, noblest and best in life"—the voice died in a sob and she was silent.
The man turned away, crying in his soul:
"O God, I'm paying the price now!"
"What can I do!" she went on at last. "What is life worth since I know this leper's shame? There are millions like me, yes. If I could bend my back and be a slave there are men and women who need my services. And there are men I might know—yes—but I can't—I can't! I'm not a slave. I'm not bad. I can't stoop. There's but one thing!"
Norton's face was white with emotion: