The interest that was now roused in him was an interest above reproach.

He could speak to Mercy without restraint; he could look at Mercy with a pure heart.
"You judge her very harshly," he said.

"Do _you_ know how she may have been tried and tempted ?" There was no answer.
"Tell me," he went on, "is the person whom she has injured still living ?" "Yes." "If the person is still living, she may atone for the wrong.

The time may come when this sinner, too, may win our pardon and deserve our respect." "Could _you_ respect her ?" Mercy asked, sadly.

"Can such a mind as yours understand what she has gone through ?" A smile, kind and momentary, brightened his attentive face.
"You forget my melancholy experience," he answered.