t of her.
'D'you think anything can be hidden from him?'

Arthur glanced at her. He was horrified by the terror that was in her
eyes. In the full light of day a change was plain in her expression. Her
face was strangely drawn, and pinched, and there was in it a constant
look as of a person cowed. Arthur turned away.

'I want you to know that I do not blame you in the least for anything you
did. No action of yours can ever lessen my affection for you.'

'Oh, why did you come here? Why do you torture me by saying such things?'

She burst on a sudden into a flood of tears, and walked excitedly up and
down the room.

'Oh, if you wanted me to be punished for the pain I've caused you, you
can triumph now. Susie said she hoped I'd suffer all the agony that I've
made you suffer. If she only knew!'

Margaret gave a hysterical laugh. She flung herself on her knees by
Arthur's side and seized his hands.

'Did you think I didn't see? My heart bled when I looked at your poor wan
face and your tortured eyes. Oh, you've changed. I could never have
believed that a man could change so much in so few months, and it's I
who've caused it all. Oh, Arthur, Arthur, you must forgive me. And you
must pity me.'

'But there's nothing to forgive, darling,' he cried.

She looked at him steadily. Her eyes now were shining with a hard
brightness.

'You say that, but you don't really think it. And yet if you only knew,
all that I have endured is on your account.'

She made a great effort to be calm.

'What do you mean?' said Arthur.

'He never loved me, he would never have thought of me if he hadn't wanted
to wound you in what you treasured most. He hated you, and he's made me
what I am so that you might suffer. It isn't I who did all this, but a
devil within me; it isn't I who lied to you and left you and caused you
all this unhappiness.'

She rose to her feet and sighed deeply.

'Once, I thought he was dying, and I helped him. I took him into the
studio and gave him water. And he gained some dreadful power over me so
that I've been like wax in his hands. All my will has disappeared, and I
have to do his bidding. And if I try to resist ...'

Her face twitched with pain and fear.

'I've found out everything since. I know that on that day when he seemed
to be at the point of death, he was merely playing a trick on me, and he
got Susie out of the way by sending a telegram from a girl whose name he
had seen on a photograph. I've hea