, in whose veins flowed
the blood of Malvern Hill and Cold Harbor, it seemed that the greater
victory must lie with those who charged from out the cover of philosophy
into the mystery of the unknown. If she had been in Stephen's place, she
knew that she should have taken the risk, that she should have flung
herself into the enterprise of life as into a voyage of discovery. Yet,
at the moment, appreciating all that it meant to him, she asked herself
if she had been wise to let him see the thought in her mind. For an
instant, after telling him, she hesitated, and in this instant Stephen
spoke.

"So he isn't her father?"

"No, he isn't her father. He had never seen her mother; he did not even
know her name, for he met the woman by accident when she was arrested in
the circus. Patty was over two years old then--about two and a half, I
think. Gideon Vetch took the child because of an impulse--a very human
impulse of pity--but he knew nothing of her parentage. He knows nothing
now, not even her real name. It is much worse than we ever imagined. Try
to understand it. Try to take it in clearly before you act rashly. There
is still time to weigh things--to stop and reflect. Nothing whatever is
known of Patty's birth, except that her father, so the woman said, died
in the first year of their marriage, before the child was born, and less
than two years later the mother was sent to prison for killing another
man--"

She broke off hurriedly, wiping her lips as if the mere recital of the
sordid facts had stained them with blood. It all sounded so horrible as
she repeated it--so incredibly evil!

"Oh, my dear boy, try to take it in however much it may hurt you," she
pleaded, turning a coward not on her own account, not even on his, but
for the sake of something deeper and more sacred which belonged to them
both and to the tradition for which they stood. A passionate longing
seized her now to protect Stephen from the risk that she had urged him
to take.

"I understand. It is terrible for her," he answered.

"I hate you to see Patty. Poor child, she looks seared." Then a possible
way occurred to her, even though she hated herself while she suggested
it. "I am not sure that it is wise for you to wait. There are so many
things you must think of. There is first of all your family--"

He laughed shortly. "It is late in the day to remember that."

"I know." A look of compunction crossed her face. "Forgive me."

"Of course I think