human
Oh, Edward, you are free at last!
gpt
Yes, I am free at last,
human
I have always prayed for you, Edward, and for this.
gpt
I know that, Barbara; but prayer cannot do anything, can it? You see, though I was born a gentleman, I had a bad strain in me. I wonder if, somewhere, generations back, there was a pirate or a gipsy in our family. He had been going to say highwayman, but paused in time.
human
I always intended to be good and always ended by being bad. I wanted to be of the angels and play with the devils also. I liked saints--you are a saint, Barbara--but I loved all sinners too. I hope when--when I die, that the little bit of good that's in me will go where you are. For the rest of me, it must be as it may.
gpt
Don't speak like that, Edward, please, dear. Yes, you have been wicked, but you have been punished, oh, those long, long years!
human
I've lost a great slice of life by both the stolen waters and the rod, but I'm going to reform now, Barbara.
gpt
You are going to reform? Oh, I knew you would! God has answered my prayer.
human
Yes, I'm going to reform, but it's on one condition.
gpt
That you marry him, pointing to the inner room,
human
He will live, but I--I cannot tell him, Edward,
gpt
He knows.
human
He knows! Did you dare to tell him?
gpt
Yes. And he knows also that I'm going to reform--that I'm going away.
human
And I kept it from him five-and-twenty years! . . . Where are you going, Edward?
gpt
To the Farewell Islands,
human
Are they far away?
gpt
Yes, very far away, my girl.
human
But you will write to me or come to see me again--you will come to see me again, sometimes, Edward?
gpt
Yes, Barbara, I will come to see you again--if I can. He stooped and kissed her.
human
Goodbye, Barbara.
gpt
But, Edward, must you go to-night?
human
Yes, I must go now. They are waiting for me. Good-bye.
gpt
God keep you, Edward. Remember you said that you would come again to me.
human
I shall remember,