“It is my business, at all events, to know what kind of life my boy is living, and to sorrow when I know that he is living in open sin and shame.” To this speech Alistair made no answer. He could have made none that would not have added to his mother’s pain. “How much do you want?” the Duchess asked presently in a weary tone. It was not the first conversation between them that had ended at the same point. The young man started up. “Look here, mother, I didn’t come here to ask for money; I’m past that now. It doesn’t matter to me whether I stay in London or go abroad. Trent can decide for himself about that. Anyway, I must go under for a time, I suppose, and I don’t much care if I ever come up again. I was out on Westminster Bridge just now, wondering whether it wouldn’t be the easiest way to drop over, and put an end to it all; and then I thought of you, and felt sorry for your sake more than my own; and so I made up my mind to come and see you--and here I am.” The poor lady shook a good deal as she listened to this speech; and, remembering her prayer just before Alistair came in, she breathed a silent thanksgiving, and the tears came back into her eyes. “Oh, my poor boy, can’t you see that all this is the result of the life you have chosen!” She would have liked to make a more direct reference to her religious belief, but feared to do so. She had learnt by this time that her son and she had no common ground in that direction. “Why--why don’t you leave that wicked woman, and start a new life? She is ruining you, body and soul.” Alistair frowned impatiently. “I can’t let you say that, mother. It’s not her fault, Heaven knows! The poor little thing has tried to do her best for me. She is a great deal better than some of your good women, who would draw their skirts aside if they passed her in the street.” He spoke roughly, but not disrespectfully. The Duchess sighed heavily. “My unhappy boy, you know nothing about good women. You never meet them; you might be a different man if you did. If I could only bring you under the influence of some really good, devoted girl, such as I know”--a name rose to the Duchess’s lips, but she deemed it wiser not to pronounce it at that moment--“who would love you well enough to overlook the past, she might redeem you even now.”