were it time. It clears up much that I have never understood concerning you� . Men have not used me gently� . And then you came� . And I thought you must be like the others, being a man, except that you are the only one to whom I was at all inclined — perhaps because you were from the beginning gentler and more honest with me� . What a way to win a woman’s heart! To seek her happiness first of all!� Could you give me to another — if my happiness required it?”

“What else could I do, Lois?”

“Would you do that!” she demanded hotly.

“Have I any choice?”

“Not if your strange creed be sincere. Is it sincere?”

“There is no other creed for those who really love.”