r, and I would rather have my
writing-paper blown up than be blown up myself.

Is this a cowardly confession on my part? All courage, Mrs. Sarrazin, is
relative; the bravest man living has a cowardly side to his character,
though it may not always be found out. Some years ago, at a public
dinner, I sat next to an officer in the British army. At one time in
his life he had led a forlorn hope. At another time, he had picked up a
wounded soldier, and had carried him to the care of the surgeons through
a hail-storm of the enemy's bullets. Hot courage and cool courage, this
true hero possessed both. _I_ saw the cowardly side of his character. He
lost his color; perspiration broke out on his forehead; he trembled; he
talked nonsense; he was frightened out of his wits. And all for what?
Because he had to get on his legs and make a speech!

Well: Mrs. Norman, and Randal Linley, and I, sat down to our
consultation at the cottage.

What did my fair client want?

She contemplated marrying for the second time, and she wanted my advice
as a lawyer, and my encouragement as an old friend. I was quite ready; I
only waited for particulars. Mrs. Norman became dreadfully embarrassed,
and said: "I refer you to my brother-in-law."

I looked at Randal. "Once her brother-in-law, no doubt," I said; "but
after the Divorce--" My friend stopped me there. "After the Divorce," he
remarked, "I may be her brother-in-law again."

If this meant anything, it meant that she was actually going to marry
Herbert Linley again. This was too ridiculous. "If it's a joke," I said,
"I have heard better fun in my time. If it's only an assertion, I don't
believe it."

"Why not?" Randal asked.

"Saying I do want you, in one breath--and I don't want you, in
another--seems to be a little hard on Divorce," I ventured to suggest.

"Don't expect _me_ to sympathize with Divorce," Randal said.

I answered that smartly. "No; I'll wait till you are married."

He took it seriously. "Don't misunderstand me," he replied. "Where there
is absolute cruelty, or where there is deliberate desertion, on the
husband's part, I see the use and the reason for Divorce. If the unhappy
wife can find an honorable man who will protect her, or an honorable man
who will offer her a home, Society and Law, which are responsible for
the institution of marriage, are bound to allow a woman outraged
under the shelter of their institution to marry again. But, where the
husband's fault is s