"Jack," she whispered again, "let me go far away and leave you with Jessie. She will recover, and you will marry her and be happy after all, and I—I will never cross your path again."
He tore away the white little hands that clung to him, and turned to the doctors. They were awed at the sight of his white, desperate face.
"You have both assured me that Miss Staples will not die from this poisoning," he said, hoarsely; "and I—I, the one most vitally interested in this affair, say to you: Open that door and let her go her way."
Ah, God! that they should meet and part like this, after all those weary months of heartache!
"God only knows her object in coming here in disguise and committing this awful crime," was his mental thought; but aloud, he only said:
"Go, and may Heaven forgive you! Go to the father of your child."
A terrible lump rose in his throat; he could say no more.
The little one had crept out of Dorothy's arms, and out into the middle of the floor; but Dorothy never, in that awful moment, thought of the child. She was so stunned that the full import of his words did not strike her just then.
She only knew that he was opening the door for her, and harshly commanding her to go.
Like a storm-driven swallow, with one quick glance in his face, the girl turned and fled from the room, and out of the house.