"I suppose you have been listening to the chatter of that infernal
old gossip, Ben Travers."
"Ben Travers knows me too well to bring any of his gossip to me. But
he has carried his stories up and down the state; not only his--more
recent discoveries, but evidence he appears to have been collecting
for months. But he is only one of many. It seems the whole town has
known for a year or more that you see Madeleine for three or four
hours every day, that you have managed to have those hours together,
no matter what her engagements, that you are desperately in love with
each other. The gossip has been infernal. I do not deny that a good
deal of the blame rests on my shoulders. I not only neglected her but
I encouraged her to see you. But I thought her above scandal or even
gossip, and I never dreamed it was in her to love--to lose her head
over any man. She was sweet and affectionate but cold--my fault
again. Any man who had the good fortune to be married to Madeleine
could make her love him if he were not a selfish fool. Well, I have
been punished; but if I have lost her I can save her--and her
reputation. You must go. There is no other way."
"That is nonsense. You exaggerate because you are suffering from a
shock. You know that I cannot leave San Francisco with this great
newspaper about to be launched.
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