e, Sally; you don't know how
far they can make babbling fools of themselves, without being absolutely
drunk. To a girl like Beatrix, the shame of it when it does occur, and
the fear of the shame, when it doesn't, would be worse than sudden
death. That gets over and done with; the other hangs on and grows worse
and worse to an endless end."

"And you think there's no cure?"

Once more Bobby shrugged his shoulders.

"I wouldn't take any chances."

"You think Beatrix can't hold him?"

"She can for a time; but there's no knowing how long the time will last.
Any medicine loses its effect, if it is repeated often enough."

"What about Mr. Thayer?"

"He has more power over Lorimer than anyone else; but he has his own
professional life before him, and it won't be long before New York has a
small share of his time. He isn't going to give up a grand success for
the sake of playing keeper to Sidney Lorimer."

"I think he is fully capable of the sacrifice."

"Capable, yes. But it would be a sin to allow it; it would be spoiling a
saint to patch up a sinner. Thayer's future is too broad to be limited
by a futile creature like Lorimer. If he turns Quixotic, I'll poison
him. At least, that will ensure his dying in the full tide of
professional success."

"Ye-es," Sally answered thoughtfully; "but, do you know, Mr. Thayer is
so perfectly organized that I have an idea he could swallow a certain
amount of poison and come out of it unharmed, if his will were really
bent upon accomplishing some definite end."

There was another interval. It was Sally's turn to break it.

"Bobby, does it occur to you that we are just exactly where we started?
We both hate Mr. Lorimer; we hate the idea of his marrying Beatrix, and
neither one of us dares interfere. Let's go and talk to Miss Gannion."

"What's the use?"

"To clear out our mental ganglia. At least, by the time we have been
over it with her, we shall know what we think, and there's a certain
satisfaction in that."

"I know just what I think about it now."

"What do you think?"

"Damn," Bobby replied concisely.

They found Miss Gannion alone before the fire. She threw down her book
and welcomed them cordially.

"I had an indolent fit, to-day," she said, as she drew some chairs up
before the hearth. "Once in a while, I prefer to dismiss my clerical
adviser and settle my problems to suit myself. To be sure, I am quite
likely to settle them wrongly; but that renews my confi