But Helwyze, jealous even of the book which seemed to absorb her, soon paused again, to ask, in a calmer tone,—
“What interests you?”
“‘The Scarlet Letter.’”
The hands loosely clasped behind him were locked more closely by an involuntary gesture, as if the words made him wince; otherwise unmoved, he asked again, with the curiosity he often showed about her opinions of all she read,—
“What do you think of Hester?”
“I admire her courage; for she repented, and did not hide her sin with a lie.”
“Then you must despise Dimmesdale?”
“I ought, perhaps; but I cannot help pitying his weakness, while I detest his deceit: he loved so much.”
“So did Roger;” and Helwyze drew nearer, with the peculiar flicker in his eyes, as of a light kindled suddenly behind a carefully drawn curtain.
“At first; then his love turned to hate, and he committed the unpardonable sin,” answered Gladys, much moved by that weird and wonderful picture of guilt and its atonement.