"I don't suppose I have any right to plead for my brother—but you and Jeff must do him justice, too. All this happened a long while ago. Between that time and this lie thirty years of good citizenship and honorable manhood. Cornelius has been no despoiler of women." She picked up the papers again. "The curious thing about it, Camilla, is that nowhere in these letters is there any mention of a child. I can't understand that. Have you thought—that perhaps he did not know? It's very strange, mystifying. I have never known the real heart of my brother, but he could hardly have been capable of that. He was never given at any time to show his feelings—even to his wife or his family. Have you thought—that perhaps he loved—Jeff's mother?"
"I hope—I pray that he did. Perhaps if Jeff could believe that—but the letters—no, Mrs. Rumsen—no man who had ever loved could have written that last letter."
"But you must do what you can to make your husband see the best of it, Camilla. That is your duty, child—don't you see it that way?"
Camilla was kneeling on a chair, her elbows on its back, her fingers wreathing her brows.
"Yes, I suppose so," she sighed. "But I'm afraid in this matter Jeff will not ask my opinions—he must choose for himself. I don't know what he will do or say. You could hardly expect him to show filial devotion. Gladys and Cortland"—she rose in a new dismay and walked to the window—"I had not thought of them."
Her visitor followed Camilla with questioning eyes. "They must share the burden—it is theirs, too," she put in after a moment.
"It is very hard for me to know what to do. It is harder now than it would have been before this fight of the Amalgamated for the smelter. They are enemies—don't you suppose I hear the talk about it? General Bent has sworn to ruin Jeff—to put him out of business; and Jeff will fight until he drops. Father against son—oh, Mrs. Rumsen, what can be done?" She took the photograph and letters from the lap of her visitor and stood before the mantel. "If I burned them——"
"No, no," Mrs. Rumsen had risen quickly and seized Camilla by the arm. "You mustn't do that."
"It would save so much pain——"
"No one saved her pain. You have no right. Who are you to play the part of Providence to two human souls? This drama was arranged years before you were born. It's none of your affair. Fate has simply used you—used us—as humble instruments in working out its plans."