He did
not regard Nick as particularly well qualified to give him advice upon
such a subject.
After a moment Nick saw his attitude, and laughed aloud. "Yes, say it,
man! It's quite true in a sense, and I shouldn't contradict you if it
weren't. But has it never occurred to you that I was under a terrific
disadvantage from the very beginning? Do you remember that I undertook
the job that you shirked? Or do you possibly present the matter to
yourself--and others--in some more attractive form?"
He turned upon his elbow with the question and regarded Grange with an
odd expectancy. But Grange smoked in silence, not raising his eyes.
Suddenly Nick spoke in a different tone, a tone that was tense without
vibrating. "It doesn't matter how you put it. The truth remains.
You didn't love her then. If you had loved her, you must have been
ready--as I was ready--to make the final sacrifice. But you were not
ready. You hung back. You let me take the place which only a man who
cared enough to protect her to the uttermost could have taken. You
let me do this thing, and I did it. I brought her through untouched. I
kept her--night and day I kept her--from harm of any sort. And she has
been my first care ever since. You won't believe this, I daresay, but
it's true. And--mark this well--I will only let her go to the man who
will make her happy.
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