"Oh, I don't deny it. Enough to alienate any woman. I don't wonder at her going--at first--but, it was cruel to give him no chance to explain." "It was about money. He pretended to love her for herself, to know nothing about her fortune, and afterwards--a letter came. That is my Charmion's story. Is it his?" "Yes! yes! this is a wonderful thing! That the discovery should have come through you, and that you should have appealed to me of all people--the only man on this side who can tell you the truth! Is it coincidence, Miss Harding?" I clasped my hands to still their trembling. "Better than coincidence! It is Providence. We have prayed for them, you and I, for the friends we love most, and now--now it seems as if through us--Oh, Mr Thorold, explain! Explain! You believe in him still, yet you confess that he was wrong. What `explanation' can he give!" "I love Hallett," he said solemnly, "like a brother--more than a brother! I believe him to be, at this moment, the best man I know. We were at school together. He was the only son of a wealthy man. Until he was twenty-one he was brought up in an atmosphere of such luxury as we in England can hardly imagine. Americans are fond of going `one better' than the rest of the world. In some cases the extravagance of their moneyed classes amounts to profligacy. Hallett's father was a notorious example for many years, then--just as Edward came of age, there was a colossal smash; he lost everything, practically fretted himself to death, left the lad to fight his own way. "To expect the boy to understand economy after such an upbringing was preposterous. He literally did not understand the value of money. He got into debt, more and more deeply into debt, as the years went on. I am not defending him as blameless; of course, he should have pulled up, faced the worst, and started afresh; but I do say that it was a hard test, and that he had many excuses." I nodded. Ideas of economy, like most other ideas, are comparative. I have never known fabulous riches, but I should manage badly as a poor woman. Up to this point I could sympathise with Edward Hallett. Mr Thorold continued eagerly:--