“Ah, no, no—never; he did not do it! Dallas would not be so cruel. You have made a mistake,” sobbed Daisie piteously.
“There is no mistake. I saw the murder done—saw Dallas Bain flying from the scene of the crime. And the motive is plain. It was murderous wrath because Royall had married you. He did it to set you free for himself, forgetting that even you could hardly dare to brave public opinion by marrying your husband’s murderer.”
Daisie shuddered, without answering, and watched the light-blue orbs of Mrs. Fleming as if they were a basilisk’s eyes, feeling the while as if a serpent’s folds were tightening around her, slowly crushing her to death.
“Of course,” continued her tormentor, “my duty is plain. I should denounce Royall’s cowardly murderer to the law, and let him suffer for his crime. But that would not restore my poor cousin to life.”
“No,” faltered Daisie, almost appealingly, in her horror of the woman’s trying to fasten such a crime on Dallas, for she felt in her heart he was innocent.
“But my first thought is to soothe my cousin’s dying hours. The doctor has told me that he may die to-night or to-morrow, or linger for days in misery. There is even one single chance of his recovery—the chance of a strong constitution triumphing over his terrible wound. You see, I am quite frank with you, Daisie.”
“Yes, and I see you have some faint hope of your cousin’s recovery. I hope, indeed, that he may live.”
“You need not wish that, Daisie. He would rather die than live without your love.”
There was a brief silence. The midnight hour was very still. They could hear the tide booming in upon the shore, the solemn, mysterious voice of the sea. To poor Daisie it seemed to murmur of despair.
“Do you see what I am trying to get at, Daisie? Do you understand me? In my regret for the terrible mistake I made in uniting your fate to Royall’s, in my sorrow for my poor boy, and my wish to secure his happiness, I am willing to make a bargain with you—the strangest bargain ever made—to shield a cruel murderer for the sake of his victim. Grant me this boon, Daisie: Be true to Royall for the brief span of his life—whether long or short—give him the obedience of a wife, and I, on my part, will keep your lover’s terrible secret, and let him go free, his only punishment his accusing conscience.”