Page:The council of seven.djvu/327

 Therefore, I would like her to hear what I have to say to you now. The whole position is so irregular that one feels her presence in this room will not do any harm. Moreover, at the point we are now approaching it is just possible that she may be able to help us."

Endor, however, was loath to consent. Already he regretted the fact that his wife knew so much. Surely, it had been wiser and kinder to have kept his own counsel. Such a matter was bound to distress her terribly. And the pain it must cause would serve no end. This was an affair in which he was sure that her good will could not possibly avail.

Hierons, all the same, persisted in his request. For a reason of his own he greatly desired that Helen should be present. And in the end John, much against his own judgment, allowed Hierons to prevail.

Endor went himself to fetch his wife.

Helen, for her own part, was only too eager to hear what the emissary of the Council of Seven had to say to her husband. Having learned so much already, she had now a burning desire to know all. Nevertheless, her hope was small that a way of escape from a terrible dilemma could be found.