'Well, Harry, well?'

He turned his blank eyes upon her.

'Do you care a button for that girl?'

'Care?' he said. 'I care my whole life an' soul for her!'

'Well, then, what're you goin' to do? ''Re you goin' to lose her?'

'In the name o' God, Alice, what can I do? She doesn't want me; she is
going away to be rid of me.'

'Not want you? You great, blind, blunderin' man you; she loves you well
enough to break her heart for you. Can't you see why she's going away? Of
course you can't. She's goin' because she thinks she's an object of shame
an' disgrace; because she feels on her own dear head an' weighin' on her
own great, soft, simple heart all the weight of the shame that belonged
to that bad devil of a father of hers; because all that the papers, an'
the lawyers, an' the judge said about the sins o' Ephraim Shine she feels
burnin' in red letters on her own sweet face. That's why she's goin'; an'
if she is leavin' you it's because she feels this whole villainous
business makes her unfit to be your wife. Now what're you goin' to do,
Harry Hardy?'

Harry had risen to his feet; his face was flushed, he trembled in every
limb.

'Do?' he gasped. 'Do?'