“You? Why should they?”
“Circumstances. The place. The weapon here in my possession. My known trouble with Ely Crouch. Don’t you see how it all fits in?”
She recovered from the stupor of surprise into which his suggestion had plunged her. “Are you mad? Do you think that I’d let you sacrifice yourself? What am I to you that you should do this for me?”
“The woman I love,” he said quietly. “I have loved you from the first day that I saw you.”
It was at this moment that I returned and halted at the door, an unwilling witness to the rest, only half understanding, not daring to move. I saw the splendid color mount and glorify her beauty. I saw her hands go out to him half in appeal, half in rejection.
“Oh, it’s madness!” she cried. “It’s your life you’re offering me.”
“What else should I offer you—you who have given life its real meaning for me?”
He caught her hands in his and held them. He caught her eyes in his and held them. Then he began speaking, evenly, soothingly, persuasively, binding her to his will.
“What does my life amount to? Think how little it means. A few more weeks of waiting. Then the suffering: then the release. You heard Dr. Smith. You know. You understand. Didn’t you understand?”
“Yes,” she breathed.