“For you. Did it never occur to you that you're the sort folks always want to do things for if you'll let them?” “God bless you, Cutty!” “He's always blessing me, Kitty. He blessed me with your mother's friendship, now yours. Kitty, I'm going to jilt you.” “Jilt me?”--her heart leaping. “Yes, ma'am. We can't go through with that mummery. We aren't built that way. I'll figure it out in some other fashion. But marriage is a sacred contract; and this farce would have left a scar on your honest mind. You'd have to tell some man. Your kind can't go through life without being loved. Would he understand? I wonder. He'll be human or you wouldn't fall in love with him; and always he'll be pondering and bedevilling himself with queer ideas--because he'll be human. Of course there's a loophole--you can sue me for breach of promise.” “Please, Cutty; don't laugh! You're one of those men they call Greathearts. And now I'm going to tell you something. It wasn't going to be a farce. I intended to become your true wife, Cutty, make you as happy as I could.” Cutty patted her hand and got up. Lord, how bruised and sore his old body was!... His true wife! She might have been his if he had not missed that train. But for this hour, hot with life, she might never have discovered that she loved Hawksley. His true wife! Ah, she would have been all of that--Molly's girl! “Will you mind waiting here until I see where old Stefani Gregor is?” “No,” answered Kitty, dreamily. Cutty limped to the door. Outside he leaned against the partition. Done in, body and soul. Always opening the gates of paradise for somebody else... His true wife! Slowly he descended the stairs. Alone, Kitty smoothed back the dank hair from Hawksley's brow, which she kissed. Benediction and good-bye. CHAPTER XXXII Because it was assumed that some of Karlov's pack might be at large and unsuspectingly return to the trap, Federal agents would remain on guard all night. They explored the house, hunting for chemicals, documents, letters, and addresses. They found enough high explosive to blow up the district. And they found Stefani Gregor. They were standing by the cot as Cutty came in. “Yes, sir. Just this minute went out.” “Did he speak?” “A woman's name.” “Rosa?” “Yes, sir. Looks to me as if he had been starved to death. Know who he was?” “Yes. Tell the coroner to be gentle. Once upon a time Stefani Gregor spoke to kings by right of genius.” The thought that he himself might have been the indirect cause of Gregor's death shocked Cutty, who was above all things tender.