“And his word also?”

“Is it not better to break one’s word than to make life one long lie?”

“It would be a sin against society.”

“Perhaps you are right,” she said; “but I would rather be an outcast than a hypocrite.”

Simple and reflective as her words were, they stung the man like the thongs of a scourge.

“Joan!”

His voice startled her; she turned and looked in his face, read pain there and a tumult of thought.

“What have I said?” she asked him.

“You despise me!”

“Gabriel!”