"
Brendon stared but made no answer.
"Human nature has its limits, Mark, and love's a pretty radical
passion. No man ever did, or could, do himself justice in any task
whatever--not while he was blinded with love of a woman. Love's a
jealous party and won't stand competitors. So it follows that if you
were in love anyway you wouldn't be at your best; and how much more
so when the lady in your case was the lady in _the_ case?"
"You wrong me," answered the other rather hotly. "That is really
unreasonable. Emphatically the incident made no sort of difference,
for the very good reason that she was not in the case, save as an
innocent sufferer from the evil actions of others. She helped me
rather than hindered me. Despite all she was called to endure, she
kept her nerve from the first and fought her own grief that she
might make everything clear to me. If I did come to love her, that
made no sort of difference to my attitude to my work."
"But it made a mighty lot of difference to your attitude to her.
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