Mr. S. A mother seeking to deceive her own child!
Mrs. V. B. Take every penny I possess, but for Eve’s sake spare me this intolerable shame. I will sign any deed you please that will convey my property to you, but leave me the love and honor of my darling child.
Mr. S. I decline to place myself in the invidious position of one who takes steps to dispossess a helpless lady; I also decline to be a party to any deception. If you refuse to make the public admission I require, you may keep your ill-gotten wealth.
Mrs. V. B. Keep it! Why I am here, of my own free will, to surrender into your hands my wealth, and with it my good name!
Mr. S. I feel it to be my duty to remind you that you have as little right to the one as to the other.
Mrs. V. B. What shall I do—What shall I do? If I refuse to publish my sin, this man will make it known to the whole world.
Mr. S. No; there you wrong me. That would be an unmanly act indeed, Miss Brandreth.
Mrs. V. B. Miss Brandreth!
Mr. S. That, I presume, is your name. Pardon me, but now that I know the truth, I could not conscientiously call you Mrs. Van Brugh. It would be a lie. For the future I shall call you Miss Brandreth, but—I shall systematically withhold my reasons for so doing.
Mrs. V. B. Mr. Smailey, think what you are compelling me to do. I have sinned, and for many years I have unceasingly endeavored to atone for that sin. Blessed with an ample fortune, I have devoted four-fifths of it to the rescue of the unhappiest among unhappy women. In my search for them I have waded, year after year, through the foulest depths of misery and disgrace, with ears and eyes outraged at every turn. In the face of galling rebuke and insult unspeakable, in the face of cold ridicule and insolent misconstruction, I have held on to the task I set myself, and through the mercy of heaven—the infinite mercy of heaven—I have succeeded. I have no desire to speak of these things, and to no other man would I utter them. But you talk to me of atonement; and have I not atoned? Oh! have I not atoned?