"Well then—come. Is it really—so impossible as you think?"
Desmond nodded decisively. "Can't you see it for yourself, man? Even if she was quit of that other confounded fellow, how could I face telling her—the truth?"
For a moment Paul was silenced; not because he found the question unanswerable, but because of that hidden knowledge which he might not disclose, even to save his friend.
"My dear Theo," he said at last, "I know—and you know—that, sooner than lose her, you could go through any kind of fire. Besides, I have an idea she would understand——"
"So have I," Desmond answered gruffly, "that's the deuce of it all. But it doesn't make a man less unworthy——"
"If it comes to that," urged the diplomatist, "are any of us worthy?"
Desmond flung up his head with an odd laugh.
"Possibly not! But there happen to be degrees of unfitness—yours and mine for instance, you blind old bat! Go along now, and enjoy the good you deserve. As for me—I have sinned and must take the consequences without whining."
"There is a radical difference, Theo," Paul remarked quietly, "between temptation and sin."