I've
kept away from her for two years, but I can't do it any longer--and she
says that if I do she'll kill herself. So there you have it. She's the
sweetest, most beautiful girl in the whole world--eyes the color of those
blue flowers you have up here, brown hair, and--but you've got to see her
when we reach Prince Albert. You won't blame me for doing all this,
then!"
I had nothing to say. At my silence he turned toward me suddenly, with
that happy smile of his, and said again:
"I tell you that you won't blame me when you see her. You'll envy me, and
you'll call me a confounded fool for staying away so long. It has been
terribly hard for both of us. I'll wager that she's no sleepier than I am
to-night, just from knowing that I'm hurrying to her."
"You're pretty confident," I could not help sneering. "I don't believe
I'd wager much on such a woman. To be frank with you, Thornton, I don't
care to meet her, so I'll decline your invitation. I've a little wife of
my own, as true as steel, and I'd rather keep out of an affair like this.
You understand?"
"Perfectly," said Thornton, and there was not the slightest ill-humor in
his voice. "You--you think I am a cur?"
"If you have stolen another man's wife--yes."
"And the woman?"
"If she is betraying her husband, she is no better than you."
Thornton rose and stretched his long arms above his head.
"Isn't the moon glorious?" he cried exultantly.
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