Eaton’s feelings had for once got the better of him; several times his voice betrayed deep emotion. He turned toward his desk as the buzzer sounded a cryptic message. He telegraphed a reply, and a moment later the sound of steps in the corridor was followed by the closing of a door.
“I will do it—I will do it,” said Copeland. “As I began to get my bearings again, that thing troubled me; it has been in my mind to speak to you about it. God knows, I want to make reparation for all the evil I’ve done. I was a brute, a coarse beast. And you’re right that Manning is a gentleman, and a mighty fine fellow—he never was anything else! I’ll go to him and be glad to do it. But to see Fanny—that is not so easy! You can understand that, Eaton. I must have time to think it over.”
“I think it best for you to see Mrs. Copeland first,” replied Eaton, “then Manning.”
Copeland, pondering with knit brows, nodded a reluctant acquiescence.
“Well, I will do as you say; but what if she’d refuse to see me? It’s going to be mighty hard,” he pleaded.
“It’s conceivable that she’d refuse, of course. She never meant for you to know of her help, and I’ve broken faith in telling you; but I’ll take the responsibility of sending you to see her. And I made this other suggestion—about Manning—with a feeling that sooner or later it would occur to you. I’m glad you’ve met me in this spirit. It confirms my impression of you—it satisfies me that I was right in assuming that once you got back in the straight road you would keep to it.”
“I’m not going to disappoint you, Eaton. I don’t intend to be pointed to as a failure in this community. The mistakes I’ve made have been bad ones—the very worst! God knows, I’m humble enough when I think of Fanny. It was like her to want to save me. That’s what makes it so hard—that it was like her to do it!”
“Yes,” said Eaton gravely; “it was like her.”
He took his overcoat from a closet and drew it on, mused a moment, apparently absorbed in contemplation of the interior of his hat.
“Mrs. Copeland is here, waiting to see me. She came a moment ago and is in the next room. She had no idea, of course, that you were likely to be here—rest assured of that. My business with her is not so important as yours. Come!”