-and I--I've grown to--to like you."

"That's powerful kind of you, now," he said. Sarcasm and scorn made his
voice that of a stranger. "An' you sit there an' look me straight in the
eyes! You're a wonderful strange woman, Jane Withersteen."

"I'm not ashamed, Lassiter. I told you I'd try to change you."

"Would you mind tellin' me just what you tried?"

"I tried to make you see beauty in me and be softened by it. I wanted
you to care for me so that I could influence you. It wasn't easy. At
first you were stone-blind. Then I hoped you'd love little Fay, and
through that come to feel the horror of making children fatherless."

"Jane Withersteen, either you're a fool or noble beyond my
understandin'. Mebbe you're both. I know you're blind. What you meant is
one thing--what you did was to make me love you."

"Lassiter!"

"I reckon I'm a human bein', though I never loved any one but my sister,
Milly Erne. That was long--"

"Oh, are you Milly's brother?"

"Yes, I was, an' I loved her. There never was any one but her in my life
till now. Didn't I tell you that long ago I back-trailed myself from
women? I was a Texas ranger till--till Milly left home, an' then I
became somethin' else--Lassiter! For years I've been a lonely man set on
one thing. I came here an' met you. An' now I'm not the man I was. The
change was gradual, an' I took no notice of it. I understand now that
never-satisfied longin' to see you, listen to you, watch you, feel you
near me. It's plain now why you were never out of my thoughts. I've had
no thoughts but of you. I've lived an' breathed for you. An' now when I
know what it means--what you've done--I'm burnin' up with hell's fire!"

"Oh, Lassiter--no--no--you don't love me that way!" Jane cased.

"If that's what love is, then I do."

"Forgive me! I didn't mean to make you love me like that. Oh, what a
tangle of our lives! You--Milly Erne's brother! And I--heedless, mad to
melt your heart toward Mormons. Lassiter, I may be wicked but not wicked
enough to hate. If I couldn't hate Tull, could I hate you?"

"After all, Jane, mebbe you're only blind--Mormon blind. That only can
explain what's close to selfishness--"

"I'm not selfish. I despise the very word. If I were free--"

"But you're not free. Not free of Mormonism. An' in playin' this game
with me you've been unfaithful."

"Un-faithful!" faltered Jane.

"Yes, I said unfaithful. You're faithful to your Bishop an' unfaithful
to yoursel