Here was help for Arthur without my braving all the horrors of Carmel's downfall by any impulsive act of my own.

For a moment, hope in one burning and renewing flame soared high in my breast.

I was willing to accept my release in this way.
I was willing to shift the load from my own back to the delicate shoulders of this shrinking but ardent girl.

Then reason returned, if consideration halted, and I asked myself: "But is the help she offers of any practical worth?
Would her timid declarations, trembling as she was between her awe of her parents and her desire to serve the man she loved, weigh in the balance against the evidence accumulated by the district attorney ?" It seemed doubtful.

She would not be believed, and I should have to back up her statement with my own hitherto suppressed testimony.