Godfrey Cass, the eldest son, had a fine open face and a weak will. Everyone expected him to marry Nancy Lammeter, the prettiest and most sensible girl in the parish, and he loved her. But Godfrey had a secret. Four years before, in a town far away, he had married a low woman named Molly, who drank opium, and they had a child. Dunstan knew the secret and used it to get money from his brother. Now Dunstan was gone, and nobody knew where, and Godfrey felt almost glad. Every night he promised himself that he would confess everything to his father, and every morning he put it off. He was the kind of man who hopes that chance will save him from the results of his own choices.