"It's a desperate chance, but it may work."
"You have a plan?" she asked anxiously.
"Yes."
"What is it?"
"I can't tell you. It will be much better for you not to know."
"Oh, I'm afraid not to know! It's dreadful to be conspiring against that poor girl. It's like plotting a murder. I can't bear the thought of it. You must tell me."
"It will be hard enough for me—you could not stand it," I said. "You'll have to trust me, for I shall save you in spite of yourself. But I can't share this with you."
"You'll not injure her, Chester?"
"How can I, when it will be your own face that I shall confront? It will be your own voice that I shall hear. I wonder if I can do it!"
"Oh, I must know or I shan't consent," she declared. "What right have we to destroy her, after all? She has a right, perhaps, to her life!"