'I am not sure. You say you have no memory of your father or mother; surely if you remembered anything you'd remember them? Now suppose,--of course it is an almost impossible contingency, but suppose you won Lorna Bolivick's consent to be your wife; suppose you obtained a position sufficiently good for Sir Thomas and Lady Bolivick to consent to your marrying her; and then suppose your memory came back, and the whole of your past were made known to you, and you discovered that there was a woman here in England, or somewhere else, whom you married years ago, and whom you loved, and who had been grieving because of your loss? Can't you see the situation?' I could see I had impressed him. Instead of the light of resolution, there was a haunting fear in his eyes. 'I had not thought of that,' he murmured. 'Of course it is not so,--I am sure it is not so. Still, as you say, it would not be fair to submit her to a suspicion of danger.' 'Then of course you give up the thought?' 'Oh, no,' he replied. 'Of course I must think it out, and I must meet the situation; but I give up nothing--nothing.' As I rose to leave him, McClure stood in the door of the bedroom and beckoned to me. 'Springfield and Buller are downstairs,' he whispered to me; 'they have come to lunch. Can you manage to get a chat with the fellow? It seems horrible to have such suspicions, but----' 'Yes, I understand,' I replied, noting his hesitation. 'If what is in both our minds has any foundation in fact,' he went on, 'Edgecumbe should be warned. I hate talking like this, and it is just horrible.' 'I know what you feel,' I said, 'but what can we do? As we both have to admit, nothing can be proved, and it would be a crime to accuse an innocent man of such a thing.' 'Yes, I know; but the more I have thought about the matter, the more I am sure that--that--anyhow, get a chat with him. I must get back to Plymouth soon, but before I go you and I must have a further talk. This thing must be bottomed, man, must! I'll be down in a minute.' I made my way toward the dining-room, forming plans of action as I did so. I had by this time made up my mind concerning Springfield. Whether he were guilty of what Colonel McClure had hinted at, I was not sure, but a thousand things told me that he both feared and hated my friend. How could I pierce his armour, and protect Edgecumbe at the same time?