She was silent for a moment, looking thoughtfully beyond him towards the garden which showed through the aperture of the long window, a fair and peaceful background, in striking contrast to the tension within the room and the unquiet of her mind. Dare's gaze never left her face. He was watching her continually, trying to gauge her intention from his study of her expression. The slow tears still fell at intervals; but they became fewer, and she wiped them mechanically with a small drenched handkerchief, making no effort at concealment from him. It seemed as if in her preoccupation she was scarcely conscious of his presence. "It's a sordid story," he said. "I am sorry to have to distress you with it; but you had to know... It closes everything, you see,--puts a finish to your part in his life. He has flung aside his responsibilities deliberately. A man like that, devoid of all moral sense, cannot be influenced. I doubt you would accomplish anything, if you went to him." "At least, I must make the effort," she said slowly. She turned to him, a look of sad entreaty in her eyes, as though she would appeal to him to help, instead of making things more difficult for her. "Don't try to dissuade me," she pleaded earnestly. "Don't fail me. I am relying so much on your help." "But," he urged gently, "don't you realise how impossible this thing has become? Think, even if you succeeded in persuading him to return--which I doubt strongly you could succeed in doing--what would your life be like with him,--half-imbecile, helpless, an invalid always? ... It's too horrible to contemplate." She shuddered at the picture of Arnott which he drew, and hid her white face in her hands and said nothing. "It's not as though you owe him anything," he insisted. "It's not as though you love him any longer, or can even give him what he wants--that girl, however little she brings him, can give him more than you. You are for defeating happiness all round, you see. It's not worth it. I understand your reason for wishing to do this, but I can't feel it justifies it in any sense." He put an arm about her and drew her to him and held her close.