A Candle in the Wind by Mary Imlay Taylor

BUT even while the feeling -- keen in itself, and searching -- was passing through his mind, Arthur Faunce knew that he would not yield to it -- not now. He could not, for he was moved by a greater and more compelling force -- his passion for Diane Herford. Between that and his peace of mind, or something which he thought might help restore his peace of mind, he felt himself unable to choose.

It was this lack of moral stamina that had always been his trouble. He could not resist an impulse to secure his own happiness or his own life. He had nothing of the Spartan in him; he would have dropped the fox and denied all previous knowledge of it, rather than risk his vitals. He could not now jeopardize his chance with Diane for the mere sake of a confession which, however it might ease his mind, could not fail to raise the moral obstacle of Gerry's opinion.