"
"How men can be so wicked as----"
"No, you do him wrong. He ain't no more wicked than another; he's just one
of the ordinary sort--not much better or worse. If he'd been a real bad
lot it would have been better for us, for then he'd never have come
between us. You're beginning to understand, Fred, ain't you? If I don't go
with him my boy'll lose everything. He wants a 'ome--a real 'ome with
children, and if he can't get me he'll go after another woman."
"And are you jealous?"
"No, Fred. But think if we was to marry. As like as not I should have
children, and they'd be more in your sight than my boy."
"Esther, I promise that----"
"Just so, Fred; even if you loved him like your own, you can't make sure
that he'd love you."
"Jackie and I----"
"Ah, yes; he'd have liked you well enough if he'd never seen his father.
But he's that keen on his father, and it would be worse later on. He'd
never be contented in our 'ome. He'd be always after him, and then I
should never see him, and he would be led away into betting and drink."
"If his father is that sort of man, the best chance for Jackie would be to
keep him out of his way. If he gets divorced and marries another woman he
will forget all about Jackie."
"Yes, that might be," said Esther, and Fred pursued his advantage.
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