‘Well, Childie!’ exclaimed Godfrey thickly, using the _soubriquet_ by which he had nicknamed Iris in their courting days, but which he had forgotten for years past, ‘I have come back, you see, safe and sound, though I have been a deuce of a time away. However, I couldn’t help it. Business detained me. Have you been very dull alone?’ ‘Yes; it _has_ been rather dull, with no one but Maggie to speak to. But you know I am used to that. Now you _have_ come, Godfrey, I hope you are going to stay.’ ‘Well, my dear, to tell you the truth, I’m _not_. The fact is, Childie, we’re in a mess with regard to money matters, and it’s quite necessary I should lie _perdu_ for a week or two. I met an old chum of mine to-day in the city, the skipper of a Harfleur packet, and he’s promised to smuggle me out of England to-morrow morning, and I can stay with some friends of his abroad until Glendinning sets matters straight for me.’ ‘But how can Mr Glendinning set matters straight for you, Godfrey, without paying your debts? and where is the money to come from?’ demanded Iris, with that uncomfortable penetrating glance of hers. He turned his eyes away. They never had been able to stand hers. ‘Oh! he’ll raise some money for me, and he’ll pacify the rest of the creditors with promises. Glendinning’s a first-rate fellow at that sort of thing. But he says it is quite necessary I should be out of England, until the business is completely settled.’ ‘I see,’ said his wife, ‘and you must go to-night and remain away. For how long is it? Ten days?’ ‘I said a fortnight, and it may be three weeks,’ replied Godfrey. ‘It all depends upon how Glendinning can manage things for me. But one thing is certain--_I must go_.’ ‘And how are we to live during your absence?’ asked Iris quietly. ‘_Live!_ Why, as you generally do, I suppose--on credit.’ ‘That is quite impossible, Godfrey. I do not object to your going, but you must leave me some money to keep the wolf from the door. The tradesmen will not trust us with a single article. We have even to pay for the milk as we take it in.’ ‘That’s awkward,’ said Godfrey. ‘Well, give me some brandy and water, and I’ll think it over.’ A sudden idea flashed into the girl’s mind. She _must_ know the truth before he left her that night, or she might never know it at all. And so, instead of restraining his over-indulgence as she was usually called upon to do, she poured the tumbler half full of brandy before she added the water, and placed it by her husband’s side. The end, in her sight, justified the means. She was resolved to know the worst, and there seemed no other way of forcing the knowledge from him. The strong potion, added to what he had already taken, soon had its effect, but in a different manner from what Iris had intended.