"Well?"
"With you out of the way, he could come back without fear."
"Oh—preposterous!"
"Is it?"
"Drummond's not that sort. He's weak, perhaps, but no criminal."
"A criminal is the creature of a warped judgment. There'd be no criminals if every one were able to attain his desires within the law. Misfortunes breed weird maggots in a man's brain. Drummond's dragging out a wretched existence in a world of false perspectives; he's not to be blamed if he presently begins to see things as they are not."
Ember permitted another pause to lengthen, unbroken by Whitaker.
"Shall I try to find him for you?" he asked quietly, in the end.
"No," Whitaker decided. "No. Let him alone—poor devil!"
Ember disclaimed further responsibility with a movement of his shoulders.