"Forgive me, Mr. Berkley; I didn't mean to break down; but I'm so tired--and--I wanted you--I needed to hear you tell me what was right. . . . But I knew already. Even if I were--were treacherous enough to marry him--I know he would find me out. . . . I can't get away from it--I can't seem to get away. Yesterday, in camp, the 20th Cavalry halted--and there was John Casson!--And I nearly dropped dead beside Dr. Benton--oh the punishment for what I did!--the awful punishment!--and Casson stared at me and said: 'My Lord, Letty! is that you?'" She buried her burning cheeks in her hands. "I did not lie to him. I offered him my hand; and perhaps he saw the agony in my face, for he didn't say anything about the Canterbury, but he took off his forage cap and was pleasant and kind. And he and Dr. Benton spoke to each other until the bugles sounded for the regiment to mount." She flung her slender arm out in a tragic gesture toward the horizon. "The world is not wide enough to hide in," she said in a heart-breaking voice. "I thought it was--but there is no shelter--no place--no place in all the earth!" "Letty," he said slowly, "if your Dr. Benton is the man I think he is--and I once knew him well enough to judge--he is the only man on earth fit to hear the confession you have made this day to me." She looked at him, bewildered. "I advise you to love him and marry him. Tell him about yourself if you choose; or don't tell him. There is a vast amount of nonsense talked about the moral necessity of turning one's self inside out the moment one comes to marry. Let me tell you, few men can do it; and their fiancees survive the shock. So, few men are asses enough to try it. As for women, few have any confessions to make. A few have. You are one." "Yes," she whispered. "But I wouldn't if I were you. If ever any man or woman took the chance of salvation and made the most of it, that person is you! And I'm going to tell you that I wouldn't hesitate to marry you if I loved you." "W-what!" He laughed. "Not one second! It's a good partnership for any plan. Don't be afraid that you can't meet men on their own level. You're above most of us now; and you're mounting steadily. There, that's my opinion of you--that you're a good woman, and a charming one; and Benton is devilish lucky to get you. . . . Come here, Letty." She went to him as though dazed; and he took both her hands in his.