discourage her.

What to do with these photographs that so vividly recalled the most
tumultuous period of his life Nelson could not decide. If he hid them
away and Sally found them, he knew she would make his life miserable.
If he died and Sally then found them, when he no longer was able to
explain that they meant nothing to him, she would believe he always had
loved the other woman, and it would make her miserable. He felt he
could not safely keep them in his own house; his vanity did not permit
him to burn them, and, accordingly, he decided to unload them on some
one else.

The young man to whom he confided his collection was Charles Cochran.
Cochran was a charming person from the West. He had studied in the
Beaux Arts and on foot had travelled over England and Europe, preparing
himself to try his fortune in New York as an architect. He was now in
the office of the architects Post & Constant, and lived alone in a tiny
farmhouse he had made over for himself near Herbert Nelson, at
Westbury, Long Island.

Post & Constant were a fashionable firm and were responsible for many
of the French chateaux and English country houses that were rising near
Westbury, Hempstead, and Roslyn; and it was Cochran's duty to drive
over that territory in his runabout, keep an eye on the contractors,
and dissuade clients from grafting mansard roofs on Italian villas. He
had built the summer home of the Herbert Nelsons, and Herbert and
Charles were very warm friends. Charles was of the same lack of years
as was Herbert, of an enthusiastic and sentimental nature; and, like
many other young men, the story of his life also was the lovely and
much-desired Aline Proctor. It was this coincidence that had made them
friends and that had led Herbert to select Charles as the custodian of
his treasure. As a custodian and confidant Charles especially appealed
to his new friend, because, except upon the stage and in restaurants,
Charles had never seen Aline Proctor, did not know her--and considered
her so far above him, so unattainable, that he had no wish to seek her
out. Unknown, he preferred to worship at a distance. In this
determination Herbert strongly encouraged him.

When he turned over the pictures to Charles, Herbert could not resist
showing them to him. They were in many ways charming. They presented
the queen of musical comedy in several new roles. In one she was in a
sailor suit, giving an imitation of a girl paddling a canoe.