upon the crossing.  Now Virginia saw clearly that she must submit to Norton’s mastery and remain silent in the King’s Palace or she must seek to escape and tell what she knew or . . .  Was there a remaining alternative?  If so it must present itself as clearly as the others.  Action was stripped down to essentials, bared to its component elements.  True vision must necessarily result, since no side issues cluttered the view.

She sat upon a saddle-blanket upon the rock floor of the main chamber of the series of ancient dwelling-rooms, staring at the fire which Norton had builded against a wall where it might not be seen from without.  The horses were in the meadow down by the stream; she and Norton had tethered them among the trees where they were fairly free from the chance of being seen.  Norton was coming up, mounting the deep-worn steps in the cliff side.  He had gone for water; he had not been out of sight nor away five minutes.  And yet when she looked up to see him coming through the irregular doorway she had decided.

She saw in him both the man and the gentleman.  Her anger had died down long ago, smothered in the ashes of her distress; now she summoned to the fore all that she might in extenuation of what he did.  She did not blame him for the crimes which she knew he had committed because she was so confident that the chief crime of all had been the act resulting from Caleb Patten’s abysmal ignorance.  Nor now could she blame Norton that, embarked upon this flood of his life, he saw himself forced to make her his prisoner for a few hours.  It was a man’s birthright to protect himself, to guard his freedom.  And her heart gave him high praise that toward her he acted with all deference, that with things as they were, while he was man enough to hold her here, he was too much the gentleman to make love to her.  Would she have resisted, would she have opposed calm argument against a hot avowal?  She did not know.

“Virginia,” he said gravely as he slumped down upon the far side of the fire, “I feel the brute.  But . . .”

Yes, she had decided, fully decided, whether if be for better or for worse.  Now she surprised him with one of her quick, bright, friendly smiles while she interrupted: 

“Let us make the best of a bad situation,” she said swiftly.  “I am not unhappy right now; I have no wish to run half-way to meet any unhappiness which may be coming our way.  You are not the brute toward me; what you do, I do not so much as censure you for.  I am not going to quarrel with you; were I in your boots I imagine I’d do just exactly as you are doing.  I hope I’d be as nice about it, too.  And now, before we drop the subject for good and all, let me say this:  no matter what I do, should it even be the betraying you into the hands of your enemies, to put it quite tragically, I want you to know that I wish you well and that is why I do it.  Can you understand me?”