just the fineness of
his nature that kept him up."

"And your help," said Avery quietly.

His eyes comprehended her for a moment. "Yes, I did my best," he said.
"But it was his own nobility in the main that gave him strength. Have you
never noticed that about him? He has the greatness that only comes to
most men after years of struggle."

"I have noticed," Avery said, her voice very low.

Crowther went on in his slow, steady way. "Well, after that, I left. And
the next thing I knew was that the old man had died, and he was married
to you. You didn't let me into the secret very soon, you know." He smiled
a little. "Of course I realized that you had gone to him rather suddenly
to comfort his loneliness. It was just the sort of thing I should have
expected of you. And I thought--too--that he had told you all, and you
had loved him well enough to forgive him. It wasn't till I came to see
you that I realized that this was not so, and I had been in the house
some hours even then before it dawned on me."

Again he spoke as one describing something seen afar.

"Of course I was sorry," he said. "I knew that sooner or later you were
bound to come up against it. I couldn't help. I just waited. And as it
chanced, I didn't have to wait very long. Piers came to me one night in
August, and told me that the whole thing had come out, and that you had
refused to live with him any longer. I understood your feelings. It was
inevitable that at first you should feel like that. But I knew you loved
him. I knew that sooner or later that would make a difference. And I
tried to hearten him up. For he--poor lad!--was nearly mad with trouble."

Avery's hands closed tightly upon each other in her lap. She sat in
strained silence, still gazing straight before her.

Gently Crowther finished his tale. "That's about all there is to tell,
except that from the day he left you to this, he has borne his burden
like a man, and he has never once done anything unworthy of you. He is a
man, Avery, not a boy any longer. He is a man you can trust, for he will
never deceive you again. If he hasn't yet found his place of repentance,
it hasn't been for lack of the seeking. If you can send him a line of
forgiveness, he will go into this war with a high heart, and you will
have reason to be proud of him when you meet again."

He got up and moved in his slow, massive way across the room.

"Now you will let me give you some tea," he said. "I am sure you must