‚ÄúI have hesitated because I do not know that I have a right to speak or explain to‚ÅÝ‚Äîto‚ÅÝ‚Äîa good woman.‚Äù
He felt her arm tighten on his and he continued:
‚ÄúYou have been to Elspeth‚Äôs cabin; it is an evil place, and has meant evil for this community, and for me. Elspeth was my mother‚Äôs favorite servant and my own mammy. My mother died when I was ten and left me to her tender mercies. She let me have my way and encouraged the bad in me. It‚Äôs a wonder I escaped total ruin. Her cabin became a rendezvous for drinking and carousing. I told my father, but he, in lazy indifference, declared the place no worse than all Negro cabins, and did nothing. I ceased my visits. Still she tried every lure and set false stories going among the Negroes, even when I sought to rescue Zora. I tell you this because I know you have heard evil rumors. I have not been a good man‚ÅÝ‚ÄîMary; but I love you, and you can make me good.‚Äù
Perhaps no other appeal would have stirred Mary Taylor. She was in many respects an inexperienced girl. But she thought she knew the world; she knew that Harry Cresswell was not all he should be, and she knew too that many other men were not. Moreover, she argued he had not had a fair chance. All the school-ma’am in her leaped to his teaching. What he needed was a superior person like herself. She loved him, and she deliberately put her arms about his neck and lifted her face to be kissed.
Back by the place of the Silver Fleece they wandered, across the Big Road, up to the mansion. On the steps stood John Taylor and Helen Cresswell hand in hand and they all smiled at each other. The Colonel came out, smiling too, with the paper in his hands.
‚ÄúEasterly‚Äôs right,‚Äù he beamed, ‚Äúthe stock of the Cotton Combine‚ÅÝ‚Äî‚Äù he paused at the silence and looked up. The smile faded slowly and the red blood mounted to his forehead. Anger struggled