"It is said—how this started no one knows, and I suppose it does not matter—that your wife called in the doctor to treat a bruise on her arm, and that she admitted to him that it came from a blow. Daisy Colfax was present, and it appears that she told the story, without malice, but indiscreetly, I gathered——"
As he paused there were beads of perspiration on his forehead, and his lip trembled slightly. It had been a difficult task, but, thank God, he told himself, he had been able to see it through. To his surprise, Blackburn's face had not changed. It still wore the look of immobility which seemed to the other to express nothing—and everything.
"You must let me make some answer to these charges, David. The time has come when you must speak."
For a moment longer Blackburn was silent. Then he said slowly, "What good will it do?"
"But the lie, unless it is given back, will destroy not only you, but your cause. It will be used by your enemies. It will injure irretrievably the work you are trying to do. In the end it will drive you out of public life in Virginia."
"If you only knew how differently I am coming to think of these things," said Blackburn presently, and he added after a pause, "If I cannot bear misunderstanding, how could I bear defeat?—for work like mine must lead to temporary defeat——"
"Not defeat like this—not defeat that leaves your name tarnished."
For the first time Blackburn's face showed emotion. "And you think that a public quarrel would clear it?" he asked bitterly.
"But surely, without that, there could be a denial——"
"There can be no other denial. There is but one way to meet a lie, and that way I cannot take."