And Gerald was Cain, if anybody.

Not that he was Cain, either, although he had slain his brother.

There was such a thing as pure accident, and the consequences did not attach to one, even though one had killed one's brother in such wise.

Gerald as a boy had accidentally killed his brother.

What then?
Why seek to draw a brand and a curse across the life that had caused the accident?
A man can live by accident, and die by accident.