"And then?" He seemed to see a sardonic glitter in the gray eyes.
"I--I was afraid."
"Afraid!" She laughed in grim mirthlessness. "Afraid of a bed-ridden
woman!"
"I was afraid it would make thee unhappy." The sardonic gleam melted
into softness, then became more terrible than before.
"And so thou hast made me happy instead!"
"Stab me not more than I merit. I did not think people would be cruel
enough to tell thee."
"Thine own lips told me."
"Nay--by my soul," he cried, startled.
"Thine eyes told me, then."
"I feared so," he said, turning them away. "When she came into my
house, I--I dared not go to see thee--that was why I did not come,
though I always meant to, Sarah, my life. I feared to look thee in the
eyes. I foresaw they would read the secret in mine--so I was afraid."
"Afraid!" she repeated bitterly. "Afraid I would scratch them out!
Nay, they are good eyes. Have they not seen my heart? For twenty years
they have been my light.... Those eyes and mine have seen our children
die."
Spasmodic sobs came thickly now. Swallowing them down, she said, "And
she--did she not ask thee to give me _Get_?"
"Nay, she was willing to go without. She said thou wast as one
dead--look not thus at me. It is the will of God. It was for thy sake,
too, Sarah, that she did not become my wife by law. She, too, would
have spared thee the knowledge of her."
"Yes; ye have both tender hearts! She is a mother in Israel, and thou
art a spark of our father Abraham."
"Thou dost not believe what I say?"
"I can disbelieve it, and still remain a Jewess."
Then, satire boiling over into passion, she cried vehemently, "We are
threshing empty ears. Thinkest thou I am not aware of the
Judgments--I, the granddaughter of Reb Shloumi (the memory of the
righteous for a blessing)? Thinkest thou I am ignorant thou couldst
not obtain a _Get_ against me--me who have borne thee children, who
have wrought no evil? I speak not of the _Beth-Din_, for in this
impious country they are loath to follow the Judgments, and from the
English _Beth-Din_ thou wouldst find it impossible to obtain the _Get_
in any case, even though thou didst not marry me in this country, nor
according to its laws. I speak of our own _Rabbonim_--thou knowest
even the Maggid would not give thee _Get_ merely because thy wife is
bed-ridden. That--that is what thou wast afraid of."
"But if thou art willing,--" he replied eagerly, ignoring her scornful
scepticism.
His readiness to accept the sacrifice was salt upon her wounds.
"Thou deservest I should let thee burn in the lowest Gehenna," she
cried.
"The Almighty is more merciful than thou," he answered. "It is He that
hath ordained it is not good for man to live alone. And yet men shun
me--people talk--and she--she may leave me to my loneliness again."
His voice faltered with self-pity. "Here thou hast friends, nurses,
visitors. I--I have nothing. True, thou didst bear me children, but
they withered as by the evil eye. My only son is across the ocean; he
hath no love for me or thee."
The recital of their common griefs softened her toward him.
"Go!" she whispered. "Go and send me the _Get_. Go to the Maggid, he
knew my grandfather. He is the man to arrange it for thee with his
friends. Tell him it is my wish."
"God shall reward thee. How can I thank thee for giving thy consent?"
"What else have I to give thee, my Herzel, I who eat the bread of
strangers? Truly says the Proverb, 'When one begs of a beggar the Herr
God laughs!'"
"I will send thee the _Get_ as soon as possible."
"Thou art right, I am a thorn in thine eye. Pluck me out quickly."
"Thou wilt not refuse the _Get_, when it comes?" he replied
apprehensively.
"Is it not a wife's duty to submit?" she asked with grim irony. "Nay,
have no fear. Thou shalt have no difficulty in serving the _Get_ upon
me. I will not throw it in the messenger's face.... And thou wilt
marry her?"
"Assuredly. People will no longer talk. And she must needs bide with
me. It is my one desire."
"It is mine likewise. Thou must atone and save thy soul."
He lingered uncertainly.
"And thy dowry?" he said at last. "Thou wilt not make claim for
compensation?"
"Be easy--I scarce know where my _Cesubah_ (marriage certificate) is.
What need have I of money? As thou sayest, I have all I want. I do not
even desire to purchase a grave--lying already so long in a
charity-grave. The bitterness is over."