Terrible! Terrible! I cannot yet take it in.

Poor child! What is to become of her, God only knows!" He had risen, and in his agony walked to the window, his updrawn shoulders tense, like those of a man standing by an open grave.

He stood there for a moment, Kitty silently watching him, until, with a deep sigh, he came back to his chair.
"I have been a fool, no doubt, to pursue this thing as I have, but there seemed no other way.

I could not have lived with myself afterward, if I had not made the effort.

I knew that you and your husband often wondered at the life I led, and I have often thanked you in my heart for your loyalty.