He was about to do the one thing left for him to do.

And it was the honourable thing, for it meant freedom for her and happiness for them both.

To him, Donald MacDonald had become a man who lived very close to the heart and the right of things, and Donald had said that he should take her.

This was the greatest proof that he was right.
But could he keep Joanne from guessing?
Could he keep her from discovering the truth until it was time for her to know that truth?
In this necessity of keeping her from suspecting that something was wrong he saw his greatest fight.

Compared with it, the final settlement with Quade and Mortimer FitzHugh sank into a second importance.