"Then--Ledwith, I don't know exactly how matters stand. I can only try to put myself in your present place and imagine what I ought to do, having arrived where you have landed.... And, do you know, if I were you, and if I listened to my better self, I don't think that I'd lay a finger on Langly Sprowl." "Why?" "For the sake of the woman who betrayed me--and who is now betrayed in turn by the man who betrayed us both." Ledwith said through his set teeth: "Do you think I care for her? If I nearly kill him, do you imagine I care what the public will say about her?" "You are generous enough to care, Ledwith." "I am not!" he said, hoarsely. "I don't care a damn!" "Then why do you care whether or not he keeps his word to her and shares with her a coat of social whitewash?" "I--she is only a little fool--alone to face the world now----" "You're quite right, Ledwith. She ought to have another chance. First offenders are given it by law.... But even if that chance lay in his marrying her, could you better it by killing him if he won't do it? Or by battering him with a dog-whip? "It isn't really much of a chance, considering it on a higher level than the social viewpoint. How much real rehabilitation is there for a woman who marries such a man?" He smiled: "Because," he continued, "my viewpoint has changed. Things that once seemed important to me seem so no longer. To live cleanly and do your best in the real world is an aspiration more attractive to me than social absolution." Ledwith remained silent for a long while, then muttered something indistinctly. "Wait a moment," said Quarren, throwing aside his painter's blouse and pulling on his coat. "I'll ring up a taxi in a second!... You _mean_ it, Ledwith?" The man looked at him vacantly, then nodded. "You're on!" said Quarren, briskly unhooking the telephone. While they were waiting Ledwith laid a shaking hand on Quarren's sleeve and clung to it. He was trembling like a leaf when they entered the cab, whimpering when they left it in front of a wide brown-stone building composed of several old-time private residences thrown together. "Stand by me, Quarren," he whispered brokenly--"you won't go away, will you? You wouldn't leave me to face this all--all alone. You've been kind to me. I--I can do it--I can try to do it just at this moment--if you'll stay close to me--if you'll let me keep hold of you----" "Sure thing!" said Quarren cheerfully. "I'll stay as long as you like. Don't worry about your clothes; I'll send for plenty of linen and things for us both. You're all right, Ledwith--you've got the nerve. I----" The door opened to his ring; a pleasant-faced nurse in white ushered them in. "Dr. Lydon will see you in a moment," she said, singling out Ledwith at a glance. * * * * * Later that afternoon Quarren telephoned to Dankmere that he would not return for a day or two, and gave careful instructions which Dankmere promised to observe to the letter.