f inwardly for the physical treachery that impelled her to
do so, sat down abruptly in a chair on the opposite side of the room,
quite as far removed from the door as even Lutie could have desired.

Lutie did not sit down. She came over and stood before the woman who had
once driven her out. Her face was white and her eyes were heavy from loss
of sleep, but her voice was as clear and sharp as a bell.

"We may as well understand each other, Mrs. Tresslyn," she said quietly.
"Or, perhaps I'd better say that you may as well understand me. I still
believe myself to be George's wife. A South Dakota divorce may be all
right so far as the law is concerned, but it will not amount to
_that_"--she snapped her fingers--"when George and I conclude to set it
aside. I went out to that God-forsaken little town and stayed there for
nearly a year, eating my heart out until I realised that it wasn't at all
appetising. I lived up to my bargain, however. I made it my place of
residence and I got my decree. I tore that hateful piece of paper up last
night before I came here. You paid me thirty thousand dollars to give
George up, and he allowed you to do it. Now I have just this to say, Mrs.
Tresslyn: if George gets well, and I pray to God that he may, I am going
back to him, and I don't care whether we go through the form of marrying
all over again or not. He is my husband. I am his wife. There never was an
honest cause for divorce in our case. He wasn't as brave as I'd have liked
him to be in those days, but neither was I. If I had been as brave as I am
now, George wouldn't be lying in there a wreck and a failure. You may take
it into your head to ask why I am here. Well, now you know. I'm here to
take care of my husband."

Mrs. Tresslyn's steady, uncompromising gaze never left the face of the
speaker. When Lutie paused after that final declaration, she waited a
moment for her to resume.

"There is, of course," said she levelly, "the possibility that my son may
not get well."

Lutie's eyes narrowed. "You mean that you'd rather see him die than--"

"Miss Carnahan, I am compelled to speak brutally to you. I paid you to
give up my son. You took the money I proffered and the divorce I arranged
for. You agreed to--"

"Just a moment, please. I took the money and--and _got out_ in order to
give George a chance to marry some one else and be happy. That was what
you wanted, and what _you_ promised me. You promised me that if I gave him
up he