“If it wasn’t for Jimmy would you come and live with me? Would you drop all this deception? Would you let your husband divorce you? Would you give up your place in society for me? I am an outcast. Would you come and be an outcast with me?”
“Yes, if it wasn’t for Jimmy.”
“And for Jimmy you’d give me up for ever in a moment, wouldn’t you?”
“Why do you ask these questions?” she said, almost fiercely.
“I want something for myself, something that’s really mine. Then perhaps——”
He stopped.
“Perhaps what?”
“Perhaps I could forget—sometimes.”
“And yet when you knew Jimmy was coming here you wanted to go away. You were afraid then. And even to-day—”
“I want one thing or the other!” he interrupted desperately. “I’m sick of mixing up good and bad. I’m sick of prevarications and deceptions. They go against my whole nature. I hate struggling in a net. It saps all my strength.”