And it always went hard, Tom reflected, with men who stretched vain hands to Helen, only to lose her.
But there was one, he thought, whose outstretched hands might not prove so vain.

Why couldn't she have cared for John Harkless?
Deuce take the girl, did she want to marry an emperor?
He looked at Harkless, and pitied him with an almost tearful compassion.

A feverish color dwelt in the convalescent's cheek; the apathy that had dulled his eyes was there no longer; instead, they burned with a steady fire.

The image returned his unwavering gaze with inscrutable kindness.
"You heard that Pickle shot himself, didn't you ?" Meredith asked.

There was no answer; John did not hear him.
"Do you know that poor Jeny Haines killed himself, last March ?" Tom said sharply.
There was only silence in the room.