said, 'no better than others; I hope not worse.'
And that was all. I thought he meant that he had been selfish and
worldly. Is that other thing what he really meant?"

"No doubt."

"But he _told_ me," she said, and looked at him with a forlorn hope.

"It was the best thing that he could do for himself; no doubt he guessed
that eventually you would come to know."

She stood thinking back into the past.

"After he had told, he kissed me," she said; "he had never done that
before." Her lips trembled and the tears ran down her face.

"You know enough now, my dear. That will not happen again."

"I still love him," she said, as though confessing to shame.

The Archbishop had sufficient wisdom to accept the statement without
protest. "It would be hard for you to do otherwise," he said. "The heart
cannot change all at once."

"I believed that with him I could do good."

"Can you believe that now?"

"I don't know."

"That sort of life enters the blood," said her father, "taints it, makes
evil that which would otherwise be holy."

"You mean----?"

"I speak of marriage; the drawing together of two into one."

"It still is marriage."

"Its mystery has been profaned. Marriage then, coming after, may be only
a reminiscence of sin."

She stood looking at him, her face very pale.

"I shall still have to ask him if it is true."

The Archbishop resigned himself to what he could not avoid. "If you
must," he said. And then, thinking forward to what might possibly
happen, he added: "It was my duty to tell you everything."

"Yes," she replied, "but you did not mean to tell me at first."

"I hoped that I might spare you," he explained. "These are not things
that one speaks of willingly; if they can be avoided it is better that
they should not be known."

She gave a gesture of impatience, pressing her hands against her eyes.

"Do not say anything more to me," she said, and her voice sounded
hopeless and dead. "Not now."

And then, very slowly, she turned and went out of the room.

The Archbishop told himself that he had done his duty. Personal
aggrandizement, great opportunities of power and social position he had
put away, he had done a true and holy thing. And so he sat down and
wrote to the Prime Minister.

CHAPTER XX

THE THORN AND THE FLESH

I

The next day Prince Max received a letter written by the hand which had
become for him the dearest in the world. It was very simple and
straightfo