“I couldn’t help myself,” she said. “I love you.”
Conway looked at the lovely face, and into the warm, fervent eyes, and forced himself to confront reality. “We’re talking like schoolkids,” he said harshly. “You can’t promise to wait five or seven or ten years.”
“I would.”
“And if you could, and did, wait, you can’t promise to love me then,” he went on with relentless logic. “Nobody in the world could.”
“ I could,” she said. “But if you don’t believe me, what do you want me to do?”
“Do you think you can go on loving me until after the trial?”
“You can’t do that — you can’t take a chance on—”
“I’ve taken one chance — I’ve got to take another. Go back to Topeka, Betty, tonight. That’s the one thing Gates said that made sense. Just don’t fall in love with anybody else for a few months.”
“Darling, I won’t let you do this on my account. I’ll—”
“I’m not doing it just on your account. But I can’t let them get away with this — it would be a miscarriage of justice. If I let them lock me up for seven years, I’d be really insane. Don’t worry, my sweet — I’ll see you in Topeka.”