He knew that she meant it; saw in one horrible moment that he had lost, and that to plead with her would be of no more use than to fling himself against a rock. Coming out into the streets he walked along with his hat tilted on the back of his head, staring before him in a dazed fashion as he went. "My dear Bob Carlaw," he muttered to himself, "you've most decidedly made a horrible mess of things. You've killed the goose that laid the golden eggs, with a vengeance. I thought this was going to be the smartest thing I'd ever done. Worst of all, there's Brian to be faced, and Brian's temper is positively devilish. This comes of trying to help others; if I'd fought for my own hand through life I believe I should really have cut a figure in the world, after all." He kept his miserable secret for some weeks, hoping that an event would occur which would render it unnecessary for the matter to be disclosed at all, trusting in that Providence which in a vague fashion he had alternately blessed and cursed all his days. There was a forced gaiety about him at this time; he burst into unnatural snatches of song at the most inopportune and unexpected moments, as though to keep his spirits up and to assure his doubting mind that all was well. But the crash came when Brian, finding that funds were running low, airily suggested to his father that the usual appeal should be made to Comethup Willis. Mr. Robert Carlaw, in coward fashion, put off the matter for a day or two; and then, when concealment was no longer possible, blurted out the truth, not without tears. He implored his son, his dear son, to remember that he had at all times been a fond and indulgent parent, and that he had in this as in all other things acted for the best. He urged, moreover, that they should not yet despair; his eccentric sister might restore Comethup to her favour, or might, best of all, look with kindly eyes upon Brian and his young wife. Their credit was good, owing to the costly manner in which they had lived. There was still time, the trembling man argued, in which to look about them and make up their minds what to do.