Page:Fidelia, (IA fidelia00balm).pdf/273

 His mind went to her bonfire; her useless bonfire, which she had burnt on the shore the night Fidelia and he were adrift on the ice. They had been just about here on the lake. As he recalled the callousness with which he had watched that fire, it became incredible to him how he had cast off the dear, confiding friend with whom he could talk things out as with no one else.

He thought: "If I'd married her, and was in the same fix with Mr. Fuller, she'd say, "I'll see to the debts, if anything happens. You must be free to do what you feel right!"