two years ago, Braden," she said. "I'd like you to know that, at
least."

"I dare say that is quite true," he said harshly. "You got what you went
after and now that you've got it you can very comfortably repent."

She winced. "I am not repenting."

"Would you be willing to give up all that you gained out of that
transaction and go back to where my grandfather found you?" he demanded?

"Do you expect me to lie to you?" she asked with startling candour.

"No. I know you will not lie."

"Would it please you to have me say that I would willingly give up all
that I gained?"

"I see what you mean. It would be a lie."

"Would it please you to have me give it all up?" she insisted.

He was thoughtful. "No," he said candidly. "You earned it, you are
entitled to it. It is filthy, dirty money, but you earned it. You do not
deny that it was your price. That's the long and the short of it."

"Will you let me confess something to you? Something that will make it all
seem more despicable than before?"

"Good Lord, I don't see how that can be possible!"

"I did not expect to lose you, Braden, when I married Mr. Thorpe. I
counted on you in the end. I was so sure of myself,--and of you. Wait! Let
me finish. If I had dreamed that I was to lose you, I should not have
married Mr. Thorpe. That makes it worse, doesn't it?" There was a note of
appeal in her voice.

"Yes, yes,--it makes it worse," he groaned.

"I was young and--over-confident," she murmured. "I looked ahead to the day
when I should be free again and you would be added to the--well, the gains.
Now you know the whole truth about me. I was counting on you, looking
forward to you, even as I stood beside him and took the vows. You were
always uppermost in my calculations. I never left you out of them. Even to
this day, to this very moment, I continue to count on you. I shall never
be able to put the hope out of my mind. I have tried it and failed. You
may despise me if you will, but nothing can kill this mean little thing
that lurks in here. I don't know what you will call it, Braden, but I call
it loyalty to you."

"Loyalty! My God!" he cried out hoarsely.

"Yes, loyalty," she cried. "Mean as I am, mean as I have been, I have
never wavered an instant in my love for you. Oh, I'm not pleading for
anything. I'm not begging. I don't ask for anything,--not even your good
opinion. I am only telling you the truth. Mr. Thorpe knew it all. He knew
that I loved you, and