Artists -- Relations with women -- Fiction; Artists -- United States -- Fiction
She was badly treated, no doubt of that. Her life was a failure, but
even so there was some charm about him. As he stood there, looking
aimlessly around, defiant at one moment, appealing at another, she could
not help seeing that he was not wholly bad. He was just weak on this one
point. He loved pretty women. They were always trying to win him to
them. He was probably not wholly to blame. If he would only be repentant
enough, this thing might be allowed to blow over. It couldn't be
forgiven. She never could forgive him for the way he had deceived her.
Her ideal of him had been pretty hopelessly shattered--but she might
live with him on probation.
"Angela!" he said, while she was still sobbing, and feeling that he
ought to apologize to her. "Won't you believe me? Won't you forgive me?
I don't like to hear you cry this way. There's no use saying that I
didn't do anything. There's no use my saying anything at all, really.
You won't believe me. I don't want you to; but I'm sorry. Won't you
believe that? Won't you forgive me?"
Angela listened to this curiously, her thoughts going around in a ring
for she was at once despairing, regretful, revengeful, critical,
sympathetic toward him, desirous of retaining her state, desirous of
obtaining and retaining his love, desirous of punishing him, desirous of
doing any one of a hundred things. Oh, if he had only never done this!
And he was sickly, too. He needed her sympathy.
"Won't you forgive me, Angela?" he pleaded softly, laying his hand on
her arm. "I'm not going to do anything like that any more. Won't you
believe me? Come on now. Quit crying, won't you?"
Angela hesitated for a while, lingering dolefully. She did not know what
to do, what to say. It might be that he would not sin against her any
more. He had not thus far, in so far as she knew. Still this was a
terrible revelation. All at once, because he manoeuvred himself
into a suitable position and because she herself was weary of fighting
and crying, and because she was longing for sympathy, she allowed
herself to be pulled into his arms, her head to his shoulder, and there
she cried more copiously than ever. Eugene for the moment felt terribly
grieved. He was really sorry for her. It wasn't right. He ought to be
ashamed of himself. He should never have done anything like that.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, "really I am. Won't you forgive me?"
"Oh, I don't know what to do! what to think!" moaned Angela after a
time.
"Please do, Angela," he urged, holding her questioningly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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