“It seems to me that you must leave this woman sooner or later, and that you will never have a better opportunity than now. If you really feel that you owe her anything, I don’t think you would find it impossible to get your friends to make some provision for her, if she needs it.” Alistair remembered Mendes and his empty house. He did not think Molly was likely to be in need if he left her. “And what should I do?” he asked. The unexpected question baffled the Princess for a moment. She had not heard of Hero Vanbrugh. “Return to your literary work,” she suggested. “You have not the excuse of being obliged to write something that will sell. Write to please yourself, and in time you will find your audience.” “If I were to write to please myself, the world and my own family in particular would think worse of me than they do at present.” And seeing that the Princess was not disposed to interrupt him, he went on: “The supreme sin in English eyes is truthfulness. Truthful thinking, truthful speaking, and truthful living are all equally under the ban. And the worst of it is that those who clamour most for freedom of thought are most severe on freedom of life, and those who live most freely are the least tolerant of free speech. The Dissenter persecutes the sportsman, and the sportsman persecutes the sage. All the racing men I have ever met have been bigoted High Churchmen, who would have cheerfully burnt Darwin and the late Mr. Spurgeon. And if they had begun with Darwin, they would have had Spurgeon’s help.” Princess Adelaide sat silent for some time. The task of rescuing Alistair Stuart seemed to be more difficult than she and her husband had foreseen. “I wish we could help you,” she said gently, at last. “I am afraid I am not to be helped,” Alistair confessed sadly. “When I look back over my life, it seems to me that ever since I was twelve years old I have been surrounded by people knocking me over the head, and saying to me: ‘Don’t be Alistair Stuart.’ I have tried not to be Alistair Stuart, but I have failed. And the worst of it is that I am no longer ashamed of being Alistair Stuart. It seems to me that all these complaints ought to be addressed to my Creator. I did not make myself: God made me; let Him repent, not me.” CHAPTER XIV VIRTUE TRIUMPHANT THE Prince and Princess were obliged to confess to each other, when Lord Alistair was gone, that they had failed to find a way of unravelling the tangle of his life.