He rose and paced the room with bent head and folded arms. It was his moment of weakness, and the girl knew it; but she could not help considering the alternative he suggested. If he left Palestine, they could go and live quietly somewhere on the Continent; he might even obtain permission to return to England. At least, it would be better than an indefinite separation; she did not care where she lived, so long as she were with him. But she knew that by so doing he would be guilty of forsaking his people and losing his honour, and that she would never forgive herself for having blighted his career. “No, dearest; you must not abandon your post just when you are most needed,” she said, with a heavy sigh. “An Englishman must do his duty at the cost of life itself. I know you better than you think, Lionel. Life would not be worth living to you without your honour. Besides, it would break your mother’s heart; in her eyes, you are ever the dauntless champion of the Jews.” “The dauntless champion of the Jews!” he repeated bitterly. “I wonder sometimes if the Jews are worth championing. Where is the grand spirit of unity and discipline which held together the nation of old? Quarrellings, bickerings, murmurings, grumbling at every semblance of authority, one striving to out-do the other; that is what one has to contend with in these days. Oh, how I long to throw it all up, to let them go their own way, and end the struggle by the survival of the fittest! How I long to escape with you to some quiet little spot, where we might live in peace and quiet happiness with our child. Since all these people are selfish, why should not I be selfish too? The temptation is so great—so great! I have not the power to withstand it!” “But you must!” she cried, in a tense voice. “Lionel, this is unworthy of you! When the children of Israel complained and murmured in the wilderness, did Moses forsake them in disgust? Ah, no; a leader must expect to suffer by and for his people. Having put your hand to the plough, you must not look back. You have been so brave and so noble until this very day. Do not spoil your record by turning coward at the last.” “Coward!” The word stung him like a lash. “Good God, no! But, Patricia—” He turned towards her with a gesture of appeal. “You love me? Ah, I know you do! And yet you can urge me to stick to my guns whilst you go away to live in loneliness, perhaps for the remainder of your life? I cannot understand it.... Is this love?” “Yes, of the truest kind,” she answered, her deep eyes glistening with tears. “‘_I could not love thee, dear, so much, loved I not honour more._’ Do you think I’m not longing to say, ‘Come with me to the other end of the world, and leave these people to look after themselves’? But I must not, I dare not! Your duty lies in Palestine, and here you must stay. I know that when you are your old self again, you will say that I was right.”