Shepitiedhim——yes；butnowshecouldsparelittlepityforothers，sheneededasmuchherself。Forminutebyminute，asshesattherethinkingoutthisgreatproblemjustasthelittleMary-’Gustausedtothinkouthersmallones，herdutybecameclearandmorecleartohermind。EdgarFarmer’ssecretmustbekept。ForCrawford’ssakeitmustbe。Heneednot——hemustnot——learnthatthefatherhehadhonoredandrespectedallhislifewasunworthyofthathonorandrespect。Andheruncles——theymustnotknow。Theoldskeletonmustnotbedugfromitsgrave。HerUncleZoethhadtoldheronlyalittlewhilebeforethathewaslearningtoforget，orifnottoforgetatleasttobemorereconciled。Shedidnotunderstandhimthen；nowshedid。TohavehimlearnthatEdgarFarmerwasalive，thathisson——Oh，no，hemustnotlearnit！Illashewas，andweakashewaslikelytobealways，theshockmightkillhim。Andyetsoonerorlaterhewouldlearnunlessthesecretremained，asithadbeenforyears，undisclosed。
Andtokeepitstillasecretwas，shesawclearly，herduty。Shemightrebelagainstit，shemightfeelthatitwaswickedandcruel，thespoilingofherlifetosavetheseothers，butitwasherdutynevertheless。BecauseshelovedCrawford——andshewasrealizingnowthatshedidlovehimdearly，thattherecouldneverbeanotherloveintheworldforher——shemustsendhimaway，shemustendtheaffairatonce。Ifshedidthatshecouldsavehimfromlearningofhisfather’sdisgrace，couldaverttheotherwiseinevitablequarrelbetweenthem，couldmakehiscareerandhisfuturesecure。Andheruncleswouldbehappy，theskeletonwouldremainundisturbed。
Yes，shemustdoit。Butitwassohardtodo。Philosophydidnothelpintheleast。Shehadtriedtoconvinceherselfwhenshegaveupherschoolworkthatitmeanttheendofherromancealso。ShehadtriedtotellCrawfordso。Butshehadbeenweak，shehadpermittedherselftohope。Shehadrealizedthatforthepresent，perhapsforyears，shemustworkforandwiththeoldmenwhohadbeenfatherandmotherbothtoher，but——hehadsaidso——Crawfordwouldwaitforher，andsomeday——perhaps——
Butnowtherewasnoperhaps——nowsheknew。Shemustreceivenomorelettersfromhim。Shemustneverseehimagain。Thebreakmustbeabsoluteandfinal。Andtherewasbutonewaytobringthatabout。Hehadsaidrepeatedlythatonlyherdeclarationthatshedidnotlovehimwouldeverpreventhismarryingher。Verywell，thenforhissakeshemustlietohim；shemusttellhimthatverything。Shemustwritehimthatshehadbeenconsideringthematterandhaddecidedshecouldneverlovehimenoughtobecomehiswife。
Itwasalmosttwoo’clockwhenshereachedthisdecisionbutshesatdownatherdesktowritethenandtherethelettercontainingit，thelastlettershewouldeverwritehim。Andwhenthemorninglightcamestreaminginatthewindowsshestillsatthere，theletterunwritten。Shehadmademanybeginnings，butnotanend。