“Why?”
“Because you are the one man in all the world who can help me. You can keep me from death, or if I die you can do the thing you did before!” She made the first movement she had made since she had sunk into her chair as she raised her hand and pointed to the gleaming brass, the bright glass, and the coiled wires of his apparatus, which stood there on the table.
He had known always that this moment was to come to him, had known what his answer was to be, and he shook his head in refusal.
“You must! That you must swear. I cannot die! Not now! You know that! You must not let me die! You owe me that, at least!”
She had lost her composure, her breath came in fitful, uneven gasps, and as she sat there she pressed one hand over her heart.
“Wait!” He spoke quickly. “You must answer me some questions.”
“Well.”
“You, my daughter, your mother’s daughter, left my house with a married man?”
“Yes.”
“You robbed me; you were willing that a good, loyal girl, who worshipped you, should suffer in your place. You broke the heart of a young man who loved you?”