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Rh marrying him! Say that you forgive me! Before God, I never thought it would be like this!'

'My daughter! I have nothing to forgive! Kiss me, Gladys—kiss me!'

'Yes, I will kiss you; but I have brought misery upon you all; and I will never forgive myself.'

'Gladys—you have not! Do not think it—and don't go, Gladys.'

'I must go. You have been good and kind to me; but this is hard for me too, though I am not crying. I never cry, though sometimes I feel inclined to, when I think of everything.'

'But now you will often come beside me, Gladys?'

'Yes, I will come. And I will try to change; you have helped me already. It will not come all at once; but perhaps I can prevent myself giving you any fresh cause to be downright ashamed of me. Nay, I must. That's the least I can do. If I fail——'

She stopped, as though to think well of what she was saying. Her face became pale and stern—Lady Bligh never forgot it.

'If I fail,' she repeated slowly, 'after this, you will know that I am hopeless!'