He had dared, and she had struck.
Under God, no one could justly blame her; yet the man's heart sank, leaving him faint and weak, reeling like a drunken man, as he realized what this must mean--to her, to him, to all the world.

Right or wrong, justified or unjustified, the verdict of law spelled murder; the verdict of society, ostracism.

It seemed to him that he must stifle; his brain was whirling dizzily.

He saw it all as in a flash of lightning--the arrest, the pointing fingers, the bitterness of exposure, the cruel torture of the court, the broken-hearted woman cowering before her judges.

Oh, God! it was too much! Yet what could he do?
How might he protect, shield her from the consequences of this awful act?
The law! What cared he for the law, knowing the story of her life, knowing still that he loved her?
For a moment the man utterly forgot himself in the intensity of his agony for her.