Now or never! He sprang out of bed, and began to dress with a beating heart.

Had it come to this with him?
He was on the point of committing an act of cowardice--yes, but no greater, perhaps even less so, than smouldering away in slavery and degradation.

It was an ugly breach of trust.

Not really so, for he had expressed, himself plainly to Pilar, and she must know how matters stood between them.

Moreover, if you fall into the mire, you cannot expect to get out of it again without besmirching yourself.