"I—don't know!" said Tennelly, helplessly.
There was silence in the room. Then Tennelly did realize a little! Perhaps Tennelly had known all along, better than he!
"And—you will forgive her?"
"I must!" said Tennelly, in desperation. "Court, my life is bound up in her!"
"So I once thought!" Courtland was only musing out loud.
Tennelly looked at him sadly.
"She almost wrecked my soul!" went on Courtland.
"I know," said Tennelly, in profound sorrow. "She told me."
"She told you?"
"Yes, before we were engaged. She told me that she had asked you to give up preaching, that she could never bear to be a minister's wife. I had begun to realize what that would mean to you then. I respected your choice. It was great of you, Court! But you never really loved her, man, or you could not have given her up!"