"That makes no difference. Jane was right! You love her!" she repeated helplessly. "What shall we do?"
"Nothing!" I took her cold hands and sat down opposite her, drawing her nearer me. "Don't fear, my wife. They are going away again, I understand. She will go out of our life for always."
"I have my children," Sarah mused after a pause.
"We have our children," I corrected. "And it's best to think of them before ourselves."
"Oh, if we could take them and go away to some little place, to live like my people down in Kentucky—you and me and the children!"
I smiled to myself at the thought. To run away was not just to pack a trunk, as Sarah thought!
"It would be impossible. Everything would go to pieces. I should lose pretty much all that we have—not only that, but a great many other people who have trusted me with their money would lose. I must work at least until there is no chance of loss for them."
"But aren't you a very rich man, Van?"
"Not so rich as I shall be some day! But I might make out to live in Kentucky, all the same."
"You think I must have a great deal of money?"