"You can have them all," she said, holding out the coral; "they are
worth a great deal more-- a great deal more than the money I-- took!"
"Lay them down," said Maggie. "Do you think I could touch that coral?
Oh, Rosalind," she added, a sudden rush of intense feeling coming into
her voice, "I pity you! I pity any girl who has so base a soul."
Rosalind began to sob freely. "You don't know how I was tempted," she
said. "I went through a dreadful time, and you were the cause-- you
know you were, Maggie. You raised the price of that coral so wickedly,
you excited my feelings. I felt as if there was a fiend in me. You did
not want the sealskin jacket, but you bid against me and won it. Then
I felt mad, and, whatever you had offered for the coral, I should have
bidden higher. It was all your fault; it was you who got me into debt.
I would not be in the awful, awful plight I am in to-night but for
you, Maggie."
"Hush!" said Maggie. The pupils of her eyes dilated curiously; she put
her hand before them.
"The fruits of my bad half-hours," she murmured under her breath.
After a long pause, she said:
"There is some truth in your words, Rosalind; I did help you to get
into this false position. I am sorry; and when I tell Miss Heath the
whole circumstance-- as I must to-morrow-- you may be sure I shall not
exonerate myself.
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