Stephen Glennard commits a betrayal of the highest order, selling the private love letters of a deceased famous author to secure his own fortune. The wealth brings him the wife he wanted, but the guilt acts as a slow-acting poison in their marriage. He is forced to watch the world—and his wife—consume the secrets he sold, intensifying his self-loathing. This novella is a gripping exploration of conscience and the impossibility of burying the past.