They escorted him to his hotel door; the
light was still burning in his room. He was sober and repentant when he
had ascended the long stairs, though he counterfeited profound
drunkenness when he stood before her.
She had been weeping, and in her white night-habit, with her dark hair
falling loosely upon her shoulders, she was very lovely. The clock
struck one as they looked at each other. She fell upon his neck and
removed his garments, and wrapped him away between the coverlets; and he
watched her for a long time in the flickering light till a deep sleep
fell upon him, so that he could not feel how closely he was clasped in
her arms.
PART III.
CONSCIENCE.
Lest it has not been made clear in these paragraphs whether Suzette was
a good or a wicked being, we may give the matured and recent judgment of
Ralph Flare himself. Put to the test of religion, or even of
respectability, this intimacy was baneful. A wild young man had broken
his honor for the companionship of a poor, errant girl. She was poor,
but she hated to work; she had no regard for his money; she did not
share his ambition. Making against her a case thus clear and certain,
Ralph Flare entered for Suzette the plea of _not_ wicked, and this was
his defence!
_She was educated in France.
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