Placing her trembling little hand on his arm, she whispered:
“I understand all that. What I meant was that—you—should—help me—to secure a divorce—from Norman Wylde—that I might quietly remarry you. It could be done, could it not?”
His face shone with happiness and love as he replied:
“It would be easy enough, I think; but, Pansy, darling, it would not be right for me to permit this sacrifice on your part.”
“I will not permit you to call it a sacrifice. I love you, and I prefer to cast my lot with yours,” she answered truly.
CHAPTER XL.
A GREAT SACRIFICE.
“Heaven help me, for I am scarcely brave enough to refuse this noble sacrifice of yours, Pansy,” groaned Colonel Falconer. “Oh, my little love, are you quite sure you will never regret this—never wish for Norman Wylde and your lost happiness?”
Clasping her slender white hands tenderly around his arm, and lifting her sad white face, with all a woman’s tenderness shining out of her soulful eyes, she replied earnestly:
“The happiness you speak of could not be mine, for if I left you for Norman the thought of you would always sadden me so that I should suffer from remorse and anxiety. I love you, though not with the wild passion I felt for my first love. But this deep, steady affection, born of admiration for your manliness and your many virtues, is so strong that it would divide the allegiance I should owe to Norman. You would be ever in my thoughts, for you need me so much, and would miss me so much, while he has long believed me dead and could bear the shock of losing me better. Therefore, if you will help me about the divorce, I will be your wife again as soon as possible.”
“I will send the most clever lawyer in New York to you, Pansy, and you can commit your case to him. Bless you for your noble decision! I did not dare hope for such a sacrifice on your part, but I love you so well that I have not courage to refuse it.”