Father Healy was for the moment bereft of the power of speech. He could not understand Denis Quirk's attitude. At last he cried:
"You are accused of being a divorced man!"
"If I am, the action was not from me. I then adopted the attitude I now propose to adopt. I merely sat quiet. There are persons concerned in this whom I refuse to injure."
"And what do you intend to do?" asked Father Healy. "There will be a horrible scandal in Grey Town."
"I shall do what I did in the States—just live it down and wait. Time will put everything straight," said Denis Quirk.
"Your wife has married again?" the priest asked.
"I believe she has. Father Healy, all that I ask of you is your confidence and trust. There is certain to be a storm, but I am strong enough to stand it. I don't wish to lose my friends, you least of all. Will you believe in me?"
Father Healy looked in the man's eyes, and Denis Quirk met his gaze unflinchingly. He was particularly ugly that day, but Father Healy could read human nature, and he believed that Denis Quirk was honest.
"I would have preferred you to have proved yourself innocent," he said.
"I cannot do that; others can. It is for them to speak, not me," replied Denis.