They sat very silent after he was gone. Oliver was leaning against the
terrace rail, Janet in her big chair was clenching her hands in her
lap, Cousin Jasper, with his hands on the railing, stood in absolute
quiet, staring out over the garden. The light of the house came
through the long windows, falling on his face that was so pale and
tired. He had seemed weary and unhappy for some time, but to-night he
looked desperate. The minutes passed, but still he stood in silence,
staring straight before him.

The sight of his distress seemed more than either of the two could
bear. Oliver could think of nothing to say, but stood dumbly helpless,
while Janet moved closer to their cousin and spoke with shy
hesitation:

"Couldn't we help you? Won't you tell us what you are thinking?"

"I was only thinking," Cousin Jasper answered very slowly, "I was
wondering, as I do sometimes lately, how strangely life can change and
twist itself and make things seem other than they should be. If you
have lived all your years following your own sense of honor, if you
have tried, in everything you do, to be fair and just, how can it be,
when the years have passed, that suddenly all the results of honest
dealing should be swept away? How can it be that a man who has
disgraced himself, whose ways are known to be everything that is
devious and unfair, how can he gain power over you, threaten to take
from you everything that is yours, even say that he can destroy your
good name? How can every effort you make toward a fair settlement only
render matters worse? Is there really something so wrong with the
world that a dishonest man can work more harm than a man of honor can
ever undo? Do _you_ think so?" he concluded, turning to regard them
from under his knitted brows as if he must, in his distress, find some
word of reassurance somewhere.

"No," said Oliver emphatically, finding his voice somewhat to his own
surprise. "I don't think so at all. I believe a man who does
dishonorable things can--can mix you up and make you miserable, but he
can't go on forever. His plans are bound to come to grief in the end."

His halting words carried the real earnestness of conviction. They
seemed to give Cousin Jasper some sort of comfort, for his face
relaxed, he moved from his tense attitude, and turned to walk up and
down the terrace through the patches of light and shadow that lay
between the windows. Janet thrust a friendly, affectionate hand under
his arm