It would not have weighed heavily with a jury of his peers; to an impartial mind it would hardly have been a defence at all, but in her eyes it saved him. Her very knowledge of the game he had played this score of years, the knowledge that had enabled her to discover his contemplated treachery, was what now furnished his justification. Being a mere spectator and understanding his moves had hardened her, she knew, and had already made an old woman of her. And, she argued, it was small wonder that he who had played the game, had fought the battles, should have become hard, and that the long straining of his eyes toward one object should have blinded him to every other consideration. He was not himself, for in this last campaign the fever was in his blood, and his going to any length to win was as inevitable as his regret afterward would be unavailing. Mercifully blind to the pathetic weakness of the plea, and unconscious of the confession of its weakness that lay in her much protesting, she told herself that it was not his fault. He was making his last fight; this temptation that beguiled him would be the last. If only she could save him from its consequences! For a moment she entertained the notion of going to him, but she saw that even if she could turn him it would be too late. Not even his wonderful ingenuity could avert the ruin it had been exercised to provoke. But perhaps there was yet time to warn John and to save the bank. Then in a second her resolve was taken. She had on a thin house dress, and with the idea of putting on something better suited for street wear in this summer evening, she tugged impatiently at its fastenings, but her shaking fingers would not obey her will. She dared not call her maid, for after what had happened an hour before, the girl would be certain to protest against her going out, and might tell her husband. She must go as she was. With a quick motion she partly rearranged her disordered hair, and pinning on a hat, any hat, and seizing her purse, she sped softly down the stairs, and without being observed she reached the street. She hesitated for an instant, then set out resolutely for the nearest elevated station.