Gavin realized it, and he held her to him and comforted her as though she had been his little sister.
Presently the passion of convulsive weeping passed, leaving her broken and exhausted.

Gavin knew the girl's powers of mental resistance were no longer strong enough to overcome her need for a comforter to whom she could unburden her soul of its miserable perplexities.
She had drawn back from his embrace but she still sat close to him, her hands in his, pathetically eager for his sympathy and aid.

The psychological moment had come and Gavin Brice knew it.

Loathing himself for the role he must play and vowing solemnly to his own heart that she should never be allowed to suffer for any revelation she might make, he said with a gentle insistence, "Tell me.".