"They burned them unread. Oh, Heaven forgive them, Heaven forgive them, for I can not!" he mutters hoarsely.
But Addie betrays no indignation, no surprise, no regret.
"Did they?" she murmurs indifferently. "That would explain."
"Addie, Addie, why did you leave me—my love, my love?"
A flush spreads over her face and a sparkle comes to her eye which almost brings back her youth again.
"Why did I leave you? Because you had learned to hate, to despise me, because I—we were all making your life unbearable, and I saw no other means by which I could free your home, give you back peace; and I left you because I loved you—loved you, oh, a thousand times better than you ever loved me!"
"Oh, child, child!"
"I saw you had learned to hate, to loathe me—I saw it in your eyes when—when—I asked you for that wretched money."
"The money—the money," he says eagerly, "you wanted for your father?"