Part 27 (1/2)
”I am obliged to leave you.”
”For what?”
”That I cannot tell you just at present.”
”Can you not trust me, Paul?” Scott asked sadly. ”Have I not always----”
”Oh, please, do not ask that,” Paul said. ”You have been more than a brother to me, more than a father, and--yes, more than anyone in all the world.”
”Then why do you leave me?”
”I must.”
”You must? It is strange. Are you tired of me, Paul?”
”Oh, no, no,” said Paul, becoming strangely excited.
”Then tell me why you leave me. If there is anything I can do, or anything which I have not done, let me know, and I will try to make amends.”
”There is nothing that I could desire that has not been done for me.
Indeed, I do not think any other man in all the world would have been as generous as you have been, but I cannot stay longer.”
Scott arose and walked slowly up and down the room. His face had grown very grave, and his lips were pressed firmly together. At length he stopped before Paul, and grasping both his hands tightly in his own, and looking straight down in the boy's face, he said:
”Paul, my boy, I cannot give you up; it is useless to try. You are a part of my home. Mother and June look to you in all their troubles, and now when all is darkest with me, will you leave me in still greater darkness? Paul, I have never made a confidant of any one, but to you I have confided more than to any other.”
Paul remained silent.
”I will not ask you again why you leave me, but let me tell you that I shall be at a loss to know how to act without you, for I am just now in the beginning of a very puzzling piece of business, and I must have help in the matter.”
”Is it anything I can do?” Paul asked.
”I do not know; you might be compelled to leave the city.”
”Is it in regard to searching for your wife?”
”No, Paul,” Scott answered firmly. ”I shall never look for Irene. When she comes to my home she will come of her own free will.”
”And you will take her back?”
”I shall never close my door against her.”
”May I ask you a question, Mr. Wilmer?”
”As many as you choose.”
”And you need not answer me unless you wish. Could you take her back and love her as well as ever?”