"Time for crying,"
she said, "when all is done. Harry, listen carefully; these are my last
words. You will never hear from me any more. You must manage your own
life in your own way, to save it or to spoil it; I will never more bear
any part in it. I am going back to England--alone. I shall give up your
name, and I shall take my maiden name again--or some other. I shall
live somewhere quietly where you will not discover me. But perhaps you
will not look for me?"
"I will not," he said. "I owe you so much. I will not look for you."
"As regards the money which I have obtained for you under false
pretences, out of the fifteen thousand pounds for which you were
insured, five thousand have been paid to my private account. I shall
restore to the Company all that money."
"Good Heavens! Iris, you will be prosecuted on a criminal charge."
"Shall I? That will matter little, provided I make reparation. Alas!
who shall make reparation--who shall atone--for the blood-spilling? For
all things else in this world we may make what we call atonement; but
not for the spilling of blood."
"You mean this? You will deliberately do this?"
"I mean every word. I will do nothing and say nothing that will betray
you.
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