He had given his word to the woman, and he would keep it.

In those brief moments she must have suffered more than most men suffer in a long life.
Not her hand, however, but his, had committed the deed.

And yet a sudden wave of pity for her rushed over him, because the conviction seized him that she would also in her heart take upon herself the burden of his guilt as though it were her own.

He had seen it in the look of her face last night.
For the sake of her future it was her duty to shield herself from any imputation which might as unjustly as scandalously arise, if the facts of that black hour ever became known.

Ever became known?
The thought that there might be some human eye which had seen, which knew, sent a shiver through him.
"I would give my life a thousand times rather than that," he said aloud to the swift-flowing river.