"And their mother too."
"Yes, I suppose; and their mother too. But that's not what we're considering. Whether they want you or not, if you are the boy—"
He tried to speak very gently. "But you see, I couldn't be. I had a mother. I don't remember much about her because I was only six or seven when she died. But two things I recall—the way she loved me, and the way I loved her. If I thought there was any truth in what you—in what you suspect—I couldn't love her any more."
"I don't see why."
"Because I should be charging her with a crime. Would you do that—to your own mother—after she was dead?"
"If she was dead it wouldn't matter."
"Not to her. But it would to me."
"It couldn't do you any harm."
"I'm the only judge of that."