as you may guess."

"And if I am not willing to be reconciled?"

"There was no condition."

"Do you know all the circumstances? Did he tell you?"

"No, he did not tell me. He said that he left you suddenly for a reason,
and when he wished to return you would not have him. That was all. He
never spoke but kindly of you."

"He was a good man."

"He is a good man."

"I will tell you why he left me. He learned, no matter how, that I had not
been married, as I said I had."

She looked up, as if expecting him to speak. He said nothing, but stood
with eyes fixed on the floor.

"I admitted, too, that I kept alive the memory of a man who had played an
evil part in my life; that I believed I cared for him still, more than for
my husband."

"Ida, for God's sake, you do not mean"--

"Yes, I meant you then. But when he went away, when he proved himself so
noble, I changed. I learned to hate the memory of the other man. But he