"I want you to declare to me that you love her. No, listen. There is still something in her that is pure. You have made her conscious of it. You can undo the wrong that has been done her and make her the woman she should be, if you choose."
Hindwood rose from his seat and paced the room. Suddenly he halted and swung round. "How did you know that I desired her? Until you came, I scarcely realized it myself. Why should you have appointed yourself to tempt me--you, who are so old? Between sane people, what would be the use of my telling you that I loved her? Though I refused to believe any of the libels against her which even you seem to credit, there are two facts which it does not seem possible to escape: that she is married and that the police are on her track. I have been warned that when she traps men, she commences by appealing to their chivalry. That's what's happening now. Do you see where you place me? If she is falsely accused, I brand myself a coward by running away from her. If she is guilty, I endanger my good name by having any more to do with her. What I am waiting to hear you say is that this is a case of mistaken identity--that she is willing and able to prove it."
When she was on her feet, she let go his arm and commenced to move across the room.
She was on the point of leaving. With quiet decision he put his back against the door, preventing her from opening it.
"Madam," he said, "old as you are, you owe me some consideration. Before you go, I at least have a right to ask your name."
She smiled wistfully. The harshness in her face was replaced by a glow of tenderness. "Yes, you have the right. I am called 'the Little Grandmother.' I am a readjuster of destinies--the champion of the down-trodden. I fight for those for whom the world has ceased to care."
"And because she has been oppressed, you overlook any crimes she may have committed?"
"I am not God, that I should judge. If people's hearts are empty, I reckon them my children."
"Let me ask you one more question. Did Santa tell you that she loved me?"
The old head shook sorrowfully. "To act nobly it is not necessary to be loved in return. Let me go. Do not try to follow me."
Standing aside, he opened the door. "And we meet again?"