It weighed him down until the desire to be rid of it almost became overpowering at times; but his caution was ingrained and powerful, and so it was that he resisted the temptation to confide in his partner, although the effort left him tired and inert.

The only one to whom he could talk was Alluna--she understood, and though she might not help, the sound of his own voice at least always afforded him some relief.
As to Poleon, no one had ever seen him thus.

Never in all his life of dream and song and romance had he known a heavy heart until now, for if at times he had wept like a girl, it was at the hurts of others.

He had loved a bit and gambled much, with equal misfortune, and the next day he had forgotten.

He had lived the free, clean life of a man who wins joyously or goes down with defiance in his throat, but this venomous thing that Runnion had planted in him had seeped and circulated through his being until every fibre was penetrated with a bitter poison.