"The things she said—you don't believe they're true?" she faltered.
"Don't speak of them.... You've piled up a debt on me more than I can ever repay. You've freed my hands to fight down Larssen, but at what a cost to yourself?"
"Then it's freed you?"
"Absolutely. The divorce was Larssen's trump-card. You've fought for me far better than I could ever have fought for myself. To think of you lying there helpless, and yet battling for me! My God, but at what a cost to yourself!"
"If it's freed you, dear John, nothing else matters."
"It has. Now I can smash Larssen's scheme.... But what of you, what of you?"
"We must part—now," she murmured.
"Why now?"
"Don't ask me to explain."
Rivière clenched his hand. "Yes, you're right," he said after a pause. "We must part—for a time."