“I do not believe you to be a bad woman,� he repeated. “You have done wrong things; so have I; none of us does right always. That would be impossible. In some of us, the bad elements are dominant; in others it is the good that dominates. We are free agents to select between the good and the bad, and therefore whatever we are, whatever we confess ourselves to be, we have become by choice. Do you prefer the good or the bad, Mrs. Babbington?�
“Oh, the good! The good! Help me to be good, Carleton Lynne. You can, if you will. You can make me good, if you will try, and you may throw your millions away, or give them away, I do not care. I would not care. I hate them. They—not yours, but the mere longing for riches—have made me what I am, a despicable woman. I hate myself, now! I see myself now for the first time as others see me; as you see me. Oh!â€� She dropped her head upon his shoulder and broke into a passion of sobs, so that any one who had known her in the past would have been amazed.
But it was all real. Madge, for once, was very much in earnest. Again Nick Carter’s prophecy had come true.
Lynne took one of her hands between his own and stroked it gently. She recovered herself.
“I am silly to give way so at the first kind word,� she murmured.
“No, you are only natural. You have found yourself. You have found the true, the real woman; you have lost the pretense that has been dominating you. You are very lovely, now; very tender; very lovable. I think you could be very true if you would be so, and could live down all that hideous past that is so hateful. Will you?�
“Yes, if you ask me to do so.�
“Whether I ask you to do it for me or not? If I ask you to do it only for yourself?�
“Yes. I will leave here to-night. We will leave here together. You shall return to your home in the city, and I will go—I will go far away, anywhere, and, and——â€� She broke down once more, with her head upon his shoulder, weeping softly this time. And he stroked her hand as he had done before, saying nothing. Red Mike still listened, silent, watchful.
It was a long time before she spoke again. Then she asked: