"Love!" she cried. "You don't know what love means, nor
does she. She CAN'T know, or she'd be here, she'd have this prison
torn block from block."
"I suppose her father would not let her come," said Kirk, slowly,
but Edith did not seem to hear him. The realization of her broken
hopes was coming home to her poignantly.
"My happiness!" she exclaimed. "I have been unhappy so long! And I
seemed to see it just within my reach. Oh, Kirk, she thinks you
are guilty, she hasn't faith."
"You have no right to say that."
"See! I came to you when I was married and asked you to take me;
I'll do the same with you now."
"You don't know what you're saying. You're hysterical, Mrs.
Cortlandt. I love Gertrudis so deeply that there's no room in me
for anything else, and never will be. Heaven only knows what they
have made her believe about me, but I don't care; I'll upset this
little plot of Alfarez's, and when she learns the truth she will
come back again."
"This little plot!" Edith cried, in distraction. "And I suppose
you wish me to give you back to her?"
They confronted each other a moment in silence.
"But I won't help her," she went on. "I'm not that sort. I'm a
selfish woman. I've always been selfish because I've never had
anybody to work for.
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