He had done wrong, it is true; but then perhaps Alice had already suffered as much as she could in the world's opinion, by living with him alone, though innocent, so long.
And now she had an everlasting claim to his protection--she should never know shame or want.

And the love that had led to the wrong should, by fidelity and devotion, take from it the character of sin.
Natural and commonplace sophistries! _L'homme se pique!_ as old Montaigne said; Man is his own sharper! The conscience is the most elastic material in the world.

To-day you cannot stretch it over a mole-hill, to-morrow it hides a mountain.
O how happy they were now--that young pair! How the days flew like dreams! Time went on, winter passed away, and the early spring, with its flowers and sunshine, was like a mirror to their own youth.

Alice never accompanied Maltravers in his walks abroad, partly because she feared to meet her father, and partly because Maltravers himself was fastidiously averse to all publicity.

But then they had all that little world of three acres--lawn and fountain, shrubbery and terrace, to themselves, and Alice never asked if there was any other world without.