Indeed, I think you may say that it all started from that night... I _never_ imagined that Culroyd would fall a victim. Hilda is undeniably pretty and, of course, she is an heiress; but, beyond that, she brings nothing. Culroyd _is_ heir to an earldom, and one would have thought he might have done rather better... It's not as if he _needed_ money. When my brother Brackenbury sacrificed himself for the good of the family, he did it on such a scale that there was no need for any one to follow in his footsteps for several generations. Culroyd and Phyllida, for their age, are very well provided for; and, of course, there is a great deal more to come. No! I could not help feeling that he must have inherited a taste for money with his mother's blood. It is extraordinary how rich people seem to attract rich people. The Jews, for example... And _vice versa_. I am sometimes so much afraid that Will may throw himself away on some one whom he'll simply have to support all his life. And, short of selling the roof from over my head and the clothes from off my back, I have done all that I _can_ do... I have lost the thread.... Ah, yes! Culroyd! I fancy I told you that for a few months my niece Phyllida chose to fancy that she had a grievance against me. A young war-soldier tried to trap her into marriage, glamoured no doubt by the title and a fair presumption of money. If I could feel that I had done _anything_ to check a most imprudent alliance, I should be proud of the achievement; I know, however, that I have no right to throw myself bouquets. The young man did not acquit himself well under cross-examination, and you may judge of this "life's passion", as poor Phyllida would like to consider it, by the fact that from that day to this she has never heard from him. The entire family held _me_ responsible! Hitherto, I had been on the best possible terms with my relations--except, of course, my brother-in-law Spenworth, and that is an honour which I would sooner be spared--; now I was the universal scapegoat. Without yielding in _any_ way to cynicism, let me say that I was _amused_, after my Lord Culroyd's first meeting with Hilda Surdan, to find that he did me the honour to make my house his own. "Let me know some night when he and Hilda are _not_ dining here," said Will, when I reproached him for always now deserting us for his club.