Horace was looking unusually grave. There were things about this affair he didn’t like. “You’re sure it wasn’t a trap? It looks mighty queer, my boy.” Lionel laughed. “I wish you knew Minnie,” he said. “Then you’d never think such a thing. She’s the most naïve, simple little soul----” “But she should not have stopped there with you. She must have known she was forcing you into a marriage. My boy.... It’s a bad business. How old is she?” “Twenty-four.” “Old enough to understand all that. My boy, I know you fairly well. I’d take an oath,” he said solemnly, “that you wouldn’t ‘lose your head,’ as you put it, and take advantage of a respectable young woman unless you were given encouragement--an extraordinary amount of encouragement. Am I right?” Lionel was not able to be properly indignant. “I’ll admit,” he said, still very red, “that she’s--too fond of me. Too much faith in me.... But, Horace, old man, you mustn’t misunderstand her. She’s the best little woman on earth. Absolutely. An angel. Never complains. Never finds fault. There she is, all day long, shut up in that beastly little flat, while I’m hunting a job. No clothes, no amusements. Especially hard on her now.” He was rather surprised at the look he saw on his brother’s face, a compassion so deep, so comprehending. For Horace was quite certain that Lionel had been trapped, had been the dupe of a woman, whether loving or scheming, it mattered little. Perhaps she could be bought off--a divorce arranged, or something of that sort. “Well, old chap!” he said, “What can I do for you? How can I help you?” “That’s what I came to see you about. Fact is, Minnie’s longing to be in the country. Doctor says it would do her no end of good. I thought perhaps you’d finance a little house, lend me a bit, you know, or take a mortgage, or whatever it is they do.” Horace agreed at once. Lionel proceeded to the next point. “And I wish you’d come home with me and _see_ Minnie,” he said, “I’d like you to talk it over with her. She has very practical ideas. Can you manage it?” Horace looked at his watch and said he could. There was nothing he wanted more at that moment than to see Minnie. He believed that after even the briefest interview, he would know how she was to be got rid of, and Lionel saved. He had gained an impression of her as a dangerous and unscrupulous woman, who could do Lionel nothing but harm.