Page:The Yellow Book - 04.djvu/74

64 unworthy of this woman's love, that no man deserved it. He had evilly entreated her, but he would rise to a new level in her company and with her aid. She should renew in him the faded qualities of innocence and pure-heartedness which as a child he had once possessed. He would ask her mercy, and use her help. Her pardon should purge him of his dishonour; she should take him to her heart, and perfect faith should rest between them.

The vision he had conceived drew his attention strongly; he seemed to himself, and in a measure was, ennobled by this aspiration. Out of the fulness of his penitence he now desired the confession he had feared but a little time before. And, as he reflected, the notes of the piano changed, and Letty shot into a gay chansonnette, trilling softly over the sharp little runs. The careless leisure of the air took off his thoughts with it. It would be a bad world in which they might not be happy. The story would hurt her, he was sure; indeed, he could conjure before him the start of pain in her eyes. But after the shock she would resume her trust, and forget, as he was forgetting. He was entirely certain of her love, and, that secure, nothing could divide them. Perhaps she were better left to herself till she recovered from the blow; he would go away for a day or two. It might even take her worse than he expected, and he would have dull faces and tearful reproaches for a week or more. If this fell out, it was his punishment, and he would bear it in humility. As his thoughts ran he had not noticed that the music ceased, and Letty's voice broke on his reverie.

"Mayn't I sit with you, dear," she pleaded. "It's so solitary in the big room!"

"Why, of course, sweetheart," said Farrell gently; "come in, and close the door; we'll be snug for a little while in here." Letty stood by his chair and stroked his head. "You