While she listened to his tremulous voice she became a prey to a strange confusion. For days she had felt as if she hated this man, and now a mysterious feeling of warmth from the past came over her.
"But what about you?" she asked.
"I can take care of myself," he answered.
"But if anything becomes known after Alick and I have gone...."
"Nothing will become known."
"But if anything does, and you get into trouble...."
"Bessie," said Stowell (he was breathing hard), "I did you a great wrong a year ago...."
"No, that was as much my fault as yours. I have been praying and praying for pardon, but rather than run away now and leave you to .... No, I won't go!"
There was a moment of uneasy silence and then Stowell said,
"Alick is waiting outside for you, Bessie. He is ready to give up everything in the world for your sake. Are you going to break his heart at the last moment?"