Oh, why
had not some one warned him in time? Why didn't the doctors and
the teachers lift up their voices and tell young men about these
frightful dangers? He wanted to go out in the highways and
preach it himself--except that he dared not, because he could not
explain to the world his own sudden interest in this forbidden
topic.
These was only one person he dared to talk to: that was his
mother--to whom he ought to have talked many, many years before.
He was moved to mention to her the interview he had overheard in
the doctor's office. In a sudden burst of grief he told her of
his struggles and temptations; he pleaded with her to go to
Henriette once more--to tell her these things, and try to make
her realize that he alone was not to blame for them, that they
were a condition which prevailed everywhere, that the only
difference between her husband and other men was that he had had
the misfortune to be caught.
There was pressure being applied to Henriette from several sides.
After all, what could she do? She was comfortable in her
father's home, so far as the physical side of things went; but
she knew that all her friends were gossiping and speculating
about her separation from her husband, and sooner or later she
would have to make up her mind, either to separate permanently
from George or to return to him. There was not much happiness
for her in the thought of getting a divorce from a man whom deep
in her heart she loved. She would be practically a widow the
rest of her life, and the home in which poor little Gervaise
would be brought up would not be a cheerful one.
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