"For us there can be no possible life together," he added presently. "We should be strangers as we have been for years. She writes me that she has been ill—that there was a serious operation——"
"Have the doctors told her the truth?"
"I think not. She knows only that she does not regain her strength, that she still suffers pain at times. Because of this it may be easier."
"You mean easier because you pity her? That I can understand. Pity makes anything possible."
"I am sorry for her, yes—but pity would not be strong enough to make me let her come back. There is something else."
"There is the child."
"The child, of course. Letty's wish would mean a great deal, but I doubt if that would be strong enough. There is still something else."
"I know," she said, "you feel that it is right—that you must do it because of that."
He shook his head. "I have tried to be honest. It is that, and yet it is not that alone. I wonder if I can make you understand?"
"Has there ever been a time when I did not understand?"