She was safe with her sister, and although Dannie did not know when or how it happened, he awoke one day to the realization that he had renounced her.

He had killed Jimmy; he could not take his wife and his farm.

And Dannie was so numb with long-suffering, that he did not much care.

There come times when troubles pile so deep that the edge of human feeling is dulled.
He would take care of Mary, yes, she was as much Jimmy's as his farm, but he did not want her for himself now.

If he had to kill his only friend, he would not complete his downfall by trying to win his wife.
So through that winter Mary got very little consideration in the remorseful soul of Dannie, and Jimmy grew, as the dead grow, by leaps and bounds, until by spring Dannie had him well-nigh canonized.
When winter broke, Dannie had his future well mapped out.