Page:George Collins - A Strange Railroad Wreck.pdf/36

22 suffer; heaven knows I would bear any pain or humiliation to keep you from suffering. When I first learned to care so much for your companionship it never occurred to me that you might learn to love me. I have tried to tell you this for a month, but was sure it meant pain for both of us, and could not find words to tell you. Yet I knew all along that it was my duty to do so. Say that you forgive me."

Mercedes Morris looked long and earnestly into the eyes of her lover. Perhaps she thought to read the true reason for this strange ending to her happiness. Then she said, very slowly and painfully:

"I do not want you to tell me anything which you think you should not; but are you very, very sure there is no way of overcoming this barrier, as you call it, to our marriage? Have you thought of it in every way? Sometimes a woman can see things in a different light, you know—particularly when it concerns the man she loves."

"If there had been any way on earth to overcome it, I would not have spoken as I did just now."

She was silent for several minutes, then impulsively asked:

"Will you answer me two questions?—it will help me bear the pain of a separation."

"If I can do so they shall be answered."

"Are you already married?"

"No."