"
"But suppose he knew that she loved ease and pleasure?--that he feared
her anger or disdain if he did not minister to her luxuries?"
"Then he ought not to have married that kind of a woman." The hardness in
her voice was matched at that moment by the coldness of her face.
"That is begging the question," I replied. "What would such a selfish
woman do in such a case, if her pleasure could not be gratified?"
"You must ask that kind of woman," was her ironical answer.
I rashly felt that her castle of strength was crumbling. I ventured
farther.
"I have done so."
She turned slightly toward me, yet not nervously, as I had expected.
"What did she say?"
"She declined to answer directly."
There was a pause, in which I felt her eyes searching my face. I fear I
must have learned dissimulation well; for, after a minute, I looked at
her, and saw, from the absence of any curious anxiety, that I had
betrayed nothing. She looked me straight in the eyes and said: "Dr.
Marmion, a man must not expect to be forgiven, who has brought shame on a
woman."
"Not even when he has repented and atoned?"
"Atoned! How mad you are! How can there be atonement? You cannot wipe
things out--on earth.
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