CHAPTER XXI.
SOME INTERESTING REVELATIONS.
"Yes; forgive me, but I simply could not wait to hear from you, Helen—I had to come; I could not endure the suspense, so followed close upon my letter, which," glancing at the package on the table—"I see you have received. Besides—I—had something else to say to you," he added, drawing nearer to her.
"Something—else," she breathed, as he paused, yet scarcely knowing what she said.
"Yes; I have dared to hope—dared to come and plead that you will forgive me the awful past and allow me to take care of you in the future," he resumed, in tremulous tones. "Wait—oh, wait!" he begged, as she put out a hand to check him, "let me speak—let me empty myself. I cannot conceive how I ever could have been so heartless, so selfish, so—brutal toward the most faithful and self-sacrificing wife in the world! Let me atone—let me try to blot it out during the coming years. You shall never know a care nor sorrow from which I can shield you. My financial future is assured, I know I am a better man, and I want to prove it to you. This newborn love for work, for right living, and noble achieving has made me yearn to mount even higher upon the ladder of success, and you would be a continual inspiration in my career; while, having been lifted out of the depths myself, I long to save others as you saved me, and we could work together in this way, for our faith and aims are now the same. Helen—oh, Helen! will you come back to me? Can you—can you?"
He was as white as marble as he held out appealing, shaking hands to her, his burning eyes fastened in agonized yearning upon her lovely though colorless face.
But in spite of her exceeding pallor, Helen had never appeared more beautiful in her life. She was the picture of health. Her splendidly developed form was clad in a rich evening gown of silver-gray chiffon velvet, elaborately decorated with duchess lace and touches of rose pink here and there to give it life. A costly comb of gold gleamed among the massive coils of her bright hair, which scarcely showed a thread of silver even yet; a curiously wrought chain, to which a diamond cross was attached, was clasped around her white throat, and handsome diamond-studded bands of gold—a recent gift from her devoted son-in-law—encircled her shapely arms. With her beautiful, high-bred face, and these becoming and elegant accessories of costume, she was a most attractive woman.
While John was speaking, she had stood motionless regarding him with mingled astonishment and dismay.
He had never seemed so manly to her before. He had become more erect; his form had expanded, and he bore himself with a masterful dignity and self-possession that bespoke a wonderful growth in character. His face was earnest and purposeful; his clothing was fine and rich in texture and fitted him perfectly; his linen was immaculate. What a contrast to the broken-down, shabby suppliant who had come to her door five years previous!
He now looked the cultured, distinguished gentleman, and she knew he was a "better man"—clean within as well as without.