A startled cry came from the senator's lips, and Ethel continued in that anguished voice:
"You blamed me, upbraided me, papa, for jilting Arthur, yet it was the noblest act of my wayward life, my atonement to Precious for all my sins."
With a sudden movement of her hand she pushed from her brows the black lace turban. It fell at his feet, and Ethel's wealth of hair swept unbound about her shoulders like a stream of silver.
In the sleepless agony of one long night all those raven tresses had faded to beautiful silvery white!
"Look at the work of one night's agony," sobbed Ethel. "Do you think now I did not love him more than wealth and title? Do you think I could not have been happy with Arthur on a crust and in a hovel? Yes, but he belonged to her by the God-given right of their mutual love. So I gave him up for her sake! But last night!—oh, last night, what suffering, what cruel jealousy of what I had lost! And with morning's dawn all this!" She flung back her whitened locks with a restless hand, and continued: "But, dear ones, this is our secret. Arthur and Precious must never know that I loved him so madly it almost killed me to give up my poor claim on him. When I am dead, perhaps, you may tell them the truth, but not till then, for I would not make her unhappy!"
They looked at the beautiful guilty creature, and their hearts yearned over her, her repentance and atonement were so beautiful and perfect. Good had triumphed over evil in her complex nature, and the victory was complete.
"You have heard all now. You will not wish me near you, you will not oppose my wish to enter a convent," she said pleadingly.
But the strong nature of Senator Winans had been stirred to its very depths by the story he had heard. He rose and drew his daughter to his breast.
"Ethel, I have wronged you," he said tenderly and humbly. "It was from me you inherited your jealous nature, and I have blamed you instead of shielding you and guarding you against your inherited nature. I should have loved you more and blamed you less. It was hard for you to be good, while it was easy for Precious, with all her mother's gentle traits. Dear, we cannot let you go from us to expiate your sins. Stay with us, and we will love you more, and help you to be true to your better nature."