"Because I had no desire that you should sneer at me for walking out with a man of that kind," she responded. "But now that it is all past, I can fearlessly tell you the truth." "But what made you take up with him?" I asked, eager now to at least penetrate some portion of the mystery, for I recollected that night in the Park, when I had overheard this man Hibbert's strange conversation with Aline. "I really don't know what caused me to entertain any regard for him," she answered. "How did it come about?" "We were introduced one night in the Monico. I somehow thought him pleasant and well-mannered, and, I don't know how it was, but I found myself thinking always of him. We met several times, but then I did not know what he was. I had no idea that he was a shop-walker. It was because of my foolish infatuation, I suppose, that I cast aside your love. But from that moment my regret increased, until I could bear the separation no longer, and I came to-night to seek your forgiveness." "But what knowledge of this man had you before that night in the cafe?" I inquired. "Who introduced you?" "A girl friend. I knew nothing of him before, and have since come to the conclusion that she knew him but slightly." "Then was he, at this time, engaged in the shop in the Holloway Road?" I asked, feeling that this fact should be at once cleared up. "I think so." "Are you absolutely certain?" "No, I'm not. Why do you ask?" "Because," I answered reflectively, "because it is strange that you should have taken an engagement at the very shop where he was employed." "It was he who gave me the introduction there," she said. "Only when I got there and commenced work did I find to my surprise that the man who had interested himself on my behalf was actually the shop-walker. He saw the look of surprise upon my face, and laughed heartily over it." "Did you never seek to inquire how long previously he had been employed there?" "No. It never occurred to me to do so," she answered. "But you can discover now easily enough, I suppose?" "Of course I can," she replied. "But why are you so anxious to know?" "I have a reason for desiring to know the exact date on which he entered the firm's employ," I said. "You will find it out for me at once, won't you?" "If you wish." "Then let me know by letter as soon as you possibly can," I urged quickly. "But you need not be jealous of him, Clifton," she said, seeking to reassure me. With her woman's quick instinct she saw that my anger had been raised against him. "How can I help being annoyed?" I said. "The facts seem quite plain that he first took service with this firm, and then most probably obtained the dismissal of one of the girls in order to make a vacancy for you. He was in love with you, I suppose," I added, rather harshly. "Love was never mentioned between us," she declared. "We merely went out and about together, and in business he used to chat and joke with me. But as for love--"