Were he but weak enough! There were minutes in which he was very near to it, minutes in which the dishonour, if dishonour it were, looked as nothing to him compared with the joy of having her for his wife again. Yet were he but "weak" enough? Would it indeed be weakness--would it not rather be strength, the courage of his convictions? The longing illumined his vision, and he asked himself on what his doubt and hesitation was based. She had sinned; but he had pardoned her sin, not merely in words, but in his heart. And she was very dear to him; and she had repented. Then why should it be impossible? What after all had they done to her, what change in the beloved identity had they wrought, those months that were past? He was aware that it was the physical side that repelled him--there had been another man. Yet if she had been a widow when he met her first, there would have been another man, and it would have mattered nothing. Did this especial sin make of a woman somebody else? Did it give her another face, another form, another brain? Did unfaithfulness transform her personality? The only difference was the knowledge of what had happened--the woman herself was the same! But he would not vindicate his right to love her--he loved her, that was enough. In its simplicity, the question was whether he would do better to condone her guilt and know happiness, or to preserve his dignity and suffer. He could not blink the question; it confronted him nakedly when a week had worn by. Without her he was lonely and wretched; with her, while she lived, he was confident that his joy would be supreme. The step that he considered was, if any one pleased, revolting; but if it led to his contentment, perhaps to be "revolting" might be the height of wisdom. He must sacrifice his pride, or his peace! And at last, quite deliberately, without misgiving or a backward glance, Heriot determined to gain peace. A few days after the arrival, Mrs. Baines had written to inform him that the physician was out of town, but now a line came to say that an appointment had been made for "Monday" and that she would communicate Dr. Drummond's pronouncement immediately they reached home after the interview. It was on Monday morning that Heriot received the note, and he resolved to go to Mamie the same evening.