"And I do. If he has no rights, remember mine; but if he has them—"
"Yes, it may come to that," she said, and he saw her lined, white face.
"No, no, Helen! Not for my sake this time, but for yours! No! I didn't mean it. Believe me, I could be glad if you were happy."
"I shan't be happy without you, but if I can't have you, why shouldn't I do my best for him?"
He looked at the floor and said, "Helen, I can't let him touch you." He looked up. "Have you thought of everything?"
"There have been days and days to think in."
"My dear, it isn't possible! To give you into his hands!"
"I shall keep out of them if I can, and no one else can do it for me. Remember that, or you will push me into them. But I'm trying to make my body a little thing. It's only a body, after all. Zebedee, will you let me sit on your knee? Just this once more. Oh, how your arms know how to hold me! I hope—I hope you'll never have to marry any one for Daniel's sake."
He rested his cheek on hers. "Daniel will have to look after himself. Men don't hurt the people they love best for the sake of some one else. That's a woman's trick."
"You never talked like this before."