t fate.

And now the Duchess came to one of the greatest problems of her life.
What should she do? Considering the facts that Joe Ellison wished the
life of a recluse and desired to avoid all talk of the old days, the
chances were that he would never happen upon the real state of affairs.
Only she and Old Jimmie knew the essentials of the situation--and very
likely Jimmie did not yet know that the friend who had once trusted him
was now a free man. She felt as though she held in her hands the strings
of destiny. Should she tell the truth?

She pondered long. All her considerations were given weight according to
what she saw as their possible effect upon Larry; for Larry was the one
person left whom she loved, and on him were fixed the aspirations of
these her final years. Therefore her thoughts and arguments were myopic,
almost necessarily specious. She wanted to see justice done, of course.
But most of all she wanted what was best for Larry. If she told the
truth, it might result in some kind of temporary breakdown in Maggie's
attitude which would bring her and Larry together. That would be
disastrous. If not disastrous at once, certainly in the end. Maggie was
a victim, and undoubtedly deserved sympathy. But others should not be
sacrificed merely because Maggie had suffered an injury. She had been
too long under the tutelage of Old Jimmie, and his teachings were
now too thoroughly the fiber of her very being, for her to alter
permanently. She might change temporarily under the urge of an emotional
revelation; but she would surely revert to her present self. There was
no doubt of that.

And the Duchess gave weight to other considerations--all human, yet all
in some measure specious. Joe Ellison was happy in his dream, and would
be happy in it all the rest of his life. Why tell the truth and destroy
his precious illusion?--especially when there was no chance to change
Maggie?

And further, she recalled the terrific temper that had lived within the
composed demeanor of Joe Ellison. The fires of that temper could not yet
be all burned out. If she told the truth, told that Jimmie Carlisle was
still alive, that might be just touching the trigger of a devastating
tragedy--might be disaster for all. What would be the use when no one
would have been benefited?

And so, in the wisdom of her old head and the entanglements of her old
heart, the Duchess decided she would never tell. And that loving, human
decision she was to