"Don't! Oh, don't, don't!" cried the girl, loudly, rocking to and fro in tearless anguish. "I wisht I were dead. I wisht I'd had the nerve to drown myself in the Ghost River, but now it's all froze over."
"It's wicked to talk in that way. Why should you wish to drown yourself? I am not judging you. I only want to help you. Things are clear to me now. Cyril——"
"Please don't, Mrs. Langdon——"
"Don't what?"
"Don't speak his name even."
"Why not? Why should you carry this burden alone? If there's any blame, it belongs to him, not you."
"No! No! He never done anything wrong. He's not capable of doing wrong to a girl. Please don't say anything about him. I can't bear it!"
"But we must face this thing fairly. You are in an abnormal condition of mind. It's not an uncommon thing. Some women lose their minds at this time. I appreciate all that you have been suffering, and I pity you from the very bottom of my heart."
Nettie said nothing now, but she wrung her hands and clenched them together as if in physical pain.