"My—"
"I beg your pardon. I forgot. A man's honour and a woman's honour are two very different things."
"They are both things that are usually taken for granted, and not mentioned."
"I will try to take it for granted. You must forgive my having mentioned it. There is one thing I must know. Has she—that woman—any children?"
"She has none."
Up till that moment, the examination had been conducted with the coolness of intense constraint. But for her one burst of feeling, Anne had sustained her tone of business-like inquiry, her manner of the woman of committees. Now, as she asked her question, her voice shook with the beating of her heart. Majendie, as he answered, heard her draw a long, deep breath of relief.
"And you propose to keep on this house for her?" she said calmly.
"Yes. She has settled in there, and she will be well looked after."
"Who will look after her?"
"The Pearsons. They're people I can trust."