"Some one else! Impossible!—-- I'm sorry, Terry; I didn't mean that I doubted your word. You mustn't be offended, but—— I'm picturing Phyllis. At her best she was good and sweet and pretty enough to hold any man. She was such a loyal little pal—only second best to you, Terry. And Adair—he was such a white man, so patient with her and so devoted to the kiddies. I can't see him in the rôle of a runaway. And what on earth would he gain by it that he hasn't got already? I don't want to think that what you've told me—— It makes all fidelity seem so contemptibly temporary."
Terry spoke gently. "Not that. It's infidelity that is temporary. A lot of us are unfaithful for
the moment—it's a symptom of our illness. You said something a little while ago about trying to regain one's lost years by violence—that's what he's doing. He's mislaid the knack of happiness with Phyllis; he's trying to recover it with some one else."
Tabs was still rebelling against the facts. "But he was such a staid old fellow."
Terry ignored his discursiveness. "I don't think I've done wrong in letting you into our family secrets. You'll be made a part of them as soon as you meet Daddy. When he heard that you were coming to town and that I was going to see you, he said, 'Thank God for that. Taborley will be able to do something.' He has a pathetic belief in you, Tabs. One of the reasons why I was at the station this morning was that I might have the chance to tell you first, before any one else had prejudiced you with bitterness. Daddy wants you to dine with him to-night. He expects you to be the kind of moral policeman who makes the arrest. But it can't be done with morality. I don't think even you could manage to persuade Adair at the present—not with moral arguments, anyhow."
"Why not?"
"Because I've seen her."
VI
It was at this moment that a sound like a pistol-shot occurred. The car commenced to bump. The
girl-driver applied the brakes, guided the car to the side of the road and jumped out.