Endor, however, was loath to consent. Already he regretted the fact that his wife knew so much. Surely, it had been wiser and kinder to have kept his own counsel. Such a matter was bound to distress her terribly. And the pain it must cause would serve no end. This was an affair in which he was sure that her good will could not possibly avail.
Hierons, all the same, persisted in his request. For a reason of his own he greatly desired that Helen should be present. And in the end John, much against his own judgment, allowed Hierons to prevail.
Endor went himself to fetch his wife.
Helen, for her own part, was only too eager to hear what the emissary of the Council of Seven had to say to her husband. Having learned so much already, she had now a burning desire to know all. Nevertheless, her hope was small that a way of escape from a terrible dilemma could be found.
LIII
AS far as the grim matter now in hand was concerned, Hierons was the soul of business. Perhaps he may have realized that if his task were not instantly performed he might not be able to accomplish it.
When Helen entered the room, the American at once opened the ball.
“I am desired by the Council of Seven to say this: As soon as the death of Saul Hartz has been accomplished, the Society will consider its immediate aim to have been achieved. It will no longer seek the world’s peace on its present lines. In fact, it proposes at once to annul its constitution; as a corporate body it will cease to be.”
“The Society is about to disband?” said John Endor, quickly.
“Yes,—as soon as Saul Hartz, the world’s arch enemy, is dead. The transactions of the last few days have convinced some of the Society’s deepest thinkers that the cause of humanity as a whole will be best served by the Friends of Peace going to work in other ways.”