"They're beyond me—I give it up," said Mrs. Gereth. This again seemed not what he wanted. "Must you do it bang off?"!

"By Jove, I did—for you! It was only for you." "Oh, if you speak the word!" the girl murmured very gravely, but happy at least to know that in this direction Mrs. Gereth confessed herself warned and helpless. Then she added: "How can I go on living with you on a footing of which I so deeply disapprove? Thinking as I do that you've despoiled him far more than is just or merciful—for if I expected you to take something, I didn't in the least expect you to take everything—how can I stay here without a sense that I'm backing you up in your cruelty and participating in your ill-gotten gains?" Fleda was determined that if she had the chill of her exposed and investigated state she would also have the convenience of it, and that if Mrs. Gereth popped in and out of the chamber of her soul she would at least return the freedom. "I shall quite hate, you know, in a day or two, every object that surrounds you—become blind to all the beauty and rarity that I formerly delighted in. Don't think me harsh; there's no use in my not being frank now. If I leave you, everything's at an end."

"Should I love him for all he has made you suffer?" Fleda wondered. "And did you remember the little letter that, with your hands tied, you still succeeded in writing to him?" "They're beyond me—I give it up," said Mrs. Gereth.