Berenice slipped her cold hand in his and looked up wistfully at her father-in-law, saying:
“Do you then love Rosalind so very much?”
For a moment the senator hesitated, then he answered frankly:
“I have never pretended to love Rosalind, but I esteem and admire her very much, so that I am willing to marry her, to atone for Charley’s desertion.”
“Then we should all make sacrifices to that end,” she murmured rather bitterly.
“Yes, I think we should,” the senator replied, out of his high code of honor, though his heart was heavy in his breast with thoughts of the wedding to-morrow.
Charley pressed the cold little hand that nestled in his and faltered weakly:
“I agree with father, Berenice. We should be friends with his future wife.”
“Oh, Charley, you would not ask me if you knew all!” she sobbed, then suddenly:
“Forgive me, for we have wronged Rosalind so much that we cannot sit in judgment on her sins. Yes, yes, I will bury my resentment, I will be friends for your sakes, not for hers.”