Cyril was so surprised at Campbell's belligerent tone that for a moment it rendered him speechless. From a boy Guy had always been his humble admirer. What could have wrought this sudden change in him? wondered Cyril. Again his eyes lingered on the violets. It was not possible! And yet Cyril had often suspected that under Guy's obvious shrewdness there lurked a vein of romanticism. And as Cyril surveyed his friend, his wrath slowly cooled. For the first time it occurred to him that Campbell's almost comic exterior must be a real grief to a man of his temperament. His own appearance had always seemed to Cyril such a negligible quantity that he shrank from formulating even in his own mind the reason why he felt that it would be absurd to fear Guy as a rival. A man who is not to be feared is a man to be pitied, and it was this unacknowledged pity, together with a sudden suspicion of the possible tragedy of his friend's life, which allayed Cyril's indignation and made him finally reply gently: "I think you are mistaken. I am sure she still needs me." "She does not. Miss Trevor and I are quite able to look after her." "I don't doubt your goodwill, my dear Guy, but what about her feelings?" "Feelings! I like that! Do you fancy that her feelings are concerned? Do you imagine that she will be inconsolable at your absence?" "You appear to forget that she believes me to be her husband. Her pride--her vanity will be hurt if I appear to neglect her." Cyril still spoke very quietly. "Then I will tell her the truth at once," exclaimed Campbell. "And risk the recurrence of her illness? Remember the doctor insisted that she must on no account be agitated." "Why should it agitate her to be told that you are not her husband? I should think it would be a jolly sight more agitating to believe one's self bound to a perfect stranger. It is a wonder it has not driven the poor child crazy." "Luckily she took the sad news very calmly," Cyril could not refrain from remarking. Really, Guy was intolerable and he longed with a primitive longing to punch his head. But he had to control himself. Guy was capable of being nasty, if not handled carefully. So he hastily continued: "How can you undeceive her on one point without explaining the whole situation to her?" "I--" began Guy, "I--" He paused. "Exactly. Even you have no solution to offer. Even you have to acknowledge that the relief of knowing that she is not my wife might be offset by learning not only that we are quite in the dark as to who she is, but that at any moment she may be arrested on a charge of murder." "I don't know what to do!" murmured Guy helplessly. "Do nothing for the present."