Nick lighted his cigarette with a whimsical expression. "You don't seem to have noticed what an excellent confidant I make," he said.
"Ah, I know you are safe." There was conviction in Max's tone. "But Kersley is such a reserved chap. And—that ancient affair ruined his life."
"I gathered that," said Nick. "As a matter of fact, I knew a little of the affair before we met. He had been a doctor in my old regiment. It was five years after he retired that I joined; but most of the fellows knew the story. It reached me one way or another. I was deuced sorry for him when I heard the truth. Most people out there were of the opinion that he had treated her badly—was, in fact, to a very great measure responsible for the tragedy."
"That of course was not so," said Max deliberately. "She was responsible from first to last. She knew of the taint in her veins. He did not—till he detected it."
"Rather hard on her!" remarked Nick.
"Would you have married her?" The green eyes fixed him with sudden stern intentness.
Nick blinked rapidly for a few seconds. "I daren't answer that question," he said at length. "You see, I'm not a doctor."
Max rose abruptly. "Are doctors the only beings whoever think of the next generation?" he asked bitterly.
"There is a saying," said Nick, "that 'Love conquers all things.'"
"Pshaw!" said Max. "It never conquered heredity."