r to himself.

Then, having faced the proposition that he had been considering his own
case all along, he found the situation to be somewhat like this: He had
a certain understanding which should operate to remove him from
influences which with men of inferior conceptions would be more
powerful; not being a brute, he should rise above impulses which a
brute is constrained by its nature to obey. So much was clear. Then
what should he do? He pondered this long and seriously.

Was it possible to wipe out the past with exposure, humiliation, shame,
and blood? He had been proud of her; he had loved her; he had been
very, very happy with her. She had been his inspiration; a part of his
hopes, ambition, life. True, she had undone all this, but the memory of
it remained. Until this recent act of shame, she had been kind,
unselfish, gentle, and faithful. Who knows why she fell? Who could
sound the depths of this strange mystery; who measure the capacity of
her resistance; who judge her frailty with a righteous mind; who say
that at that very moment she was not suffering unspeakable things? And
then, was there any one so noble of character, with integrity so
unfailing and so far beyond temptation, that he might say he was better
than she? Her weakness--should we presume to call it depravity when we
cannot know, and might we with intelligent knowledge of our own conduct
lay the whole responsibility upon her, and none upon that which made
her? If we are human, let us seek wherein we may convince ourselves
that we are not brutes. Compassion is an attribute of a noble
character. The test of manhood is the exercise of manly qualities.

What good would come from this revenge of humiliation and exposure? It
would not mend the wrong; it would not save life; it would be only
proof of the vanity, the sense of self-importance, of the injured one.
Would it be possible to spare her? Yes. That finally was settled. She
should live; she should have the property; she should be left to enjoy
life as best she could without the shadow of a stain upon her name.
That were the nobler part, the test of manhood. And then, the past
could not be forgotten!

Randolph felt so much better after arriving at this decision that he
marvelled at himself. He walked about the room feeling strong and
elastic. He tore up the will because it charged her crime upon her;
tore up the letter to the coroner; collected all the scraps of paper
and carefully burned them. T