Before she could speak, he began:
"Oh, Gyp, you don't understand! All that is nothing--it is only you I
want--always. I am a fool who cannot control himself. Think! It's a long
time since you went away from me."
Gyp said, in a hard voice:
"I didn't want to have a child."
He said quickly:
"No; but now you have it you are glad. Don't be unmerciful, my Gyp!
It is like you to be merciful. That girl--it is all over--I swear--I
promise."
His hand touched her foot through the soft eiderdown. Gyp thought: 'Why
does he come and whine to me like this? He has no dignity--none!' And
she said:
"How can you promise? You have made the girl love you. I saw her face."
He drew his hand back.
"You saw her?"
"Yes."
He was silent, staring at her. Presently he began again:
"She is a little fool. I do not care for the whole of her as much as I
care for your one finger. What does it matter what one does in that
way if one does not care? The soul, not the body, is faithful. A man
satisfies appetite--it is nothing."
Gyp said:
"Perhaps not; but it is something when it makes others miserable."
"Has it made you miserable, my Gyp?"
His voice had a ring of hope. She answered, startled:
"I? No--her."
"Her? Ho! It is an experience for her--it is life. It will do her no
harm."
"No; nothing will do anybody harm if it gives you pleasure.
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