"Wait," she panted; "I am not going to marry him. I thought you
understood that."
He drew away from her with a horrified gesture. "And you would keep an
innocent child--"
"No! No! I've broken with him--on account of David!"
"Broken with him!" said William King; he caught her by the wrist, and
stared at her. Then with a breathless word that she could not hear, he
dropped her hand and turned his face away.
Again, in their preoccupation, they stood still; this time in a great
bank of shadow by the wall of the graveyard half-way up the hill.
"So you won't take him from me?" she said; "I will leave Old Chester.
You need never see me again."
"Good God!" said William King, "do you think that is what I want?"
She tried to see his face, but he had turned his back on her so that
she stood behind him. Her hands were clasping and unclasping and her
voice fluttering in her throat. "You won't take him?"
"Mrs. Richie," he said harshly, "do you love that man still?"
But before she could answer, he put the question aside. "No! Don't
tell me. I've no right to ask. I--don't want to know. I've no right to
know. It's--it's nothing to me, of course." He moved as he spoke out
into the moonlight, and began to climb the pebbly road; she was a step
or two behind him. When he spoke again his voice was indifferent to
the point of contempt. "This side is smoother; come over here. I am
glad you are not going to marry Mr. Pryor. He is not fit for you to
marry."
"Not fit for--me!" she breathed.
"And I am glad you have broken with him. But that has no bearing upon
your keeping David. A child is the most precious thing in the world;
he must be trained, and--and all that. Whether you marry this man or
not makes no difference about David. If you have lived--as you have
lived--you ought not to have him. But I started the whole thing. I
made Dr. Lavendar give him to you. He didn't want to, somehow; I don't
know why. So don't you see? I can't leave him in your care. Surely
you see that? I am responsible. Responsible not only to David, but to
Dr. Lavendar."
"If Dr. Lavendar is willing to let me have him, I don't see why you
need to feel so about it. What harm could I do him? Oh, how cruel you
are--how cruel you are!"