"Believe this much, Lord Level: what Tom _said_, he _thought_. Anyone more reprehensibly light and heedless I do not know, but he is incapable of falsehood. And in saying that he did not expect so grave a charge, or believe there were any grounds on which it could be made, I am sure he spoke only the truth. He was drawn in by one Anstey, and----" "I read the reports of the trial," interrupted Lord Level. "Do not be at the pain of going over the details again." "Well, the true culprit was Anstey; there's no doubt of that. But, like most cunning rogues, he was able to escape consequences himself, and throw them upon Tom. I am sure, Lord Level, that Tom Heriot no more knew the bill was forged than I knew it. He knew well enough there was something shady about it; about that and others which had been previously in circulation, and had been met when they came to maturity. This one bill was different. Of course there's all the difference between shady bills of accommodation, and a bill that has a responsible man's name to it, which he never signed himself." "But what on earth possessed Heriot to allow himself to be drawn into such toils?" "Ah, there it is. His carelessness. He has been reprehensibly careless all his life. And now he has paid for it. All's over." "He is already on his passage out in the convict ship _Vengeance_, is he not?" said Lord Level, with suppressed rage. "Yes: ever since early in August," shuddered Charles. "How does Blanche bear it?" "Blanche does not know it." "Not know it!" "No. As yet I have managed to keep it from her. I dread its reaching her, and that's the truth. It is a fearful disgrace. She is fond of him, and would feel it keenly." "But I cannot understand how it can have been kept from her." "Well, it has been. Why, she does not even know that he sold out! She thinks he embarked with the regiment for India last May! We had been in Paris about ten days--after our marriage, you know--when one morning, happening to take up the _Times_, I saw in it the account of his apprehension and first examination. They had his name in as large as life--Thomas Heriot. 'Some gross calumny,' I thought; 'Blanche must not hear of this:' and I gave orders for continuing our journey that same day. However, I soon found that it was not a calumny: other examinations took place, and he was committed for trial. I kept my wife away from all places likely to be frequented by the English, lest a word should be dropped to her: and as yet, as I tell you, she knows nothing of it. She is very angry with me in her heart, I can see, for taking her to secluded places, and for keeping her away from England so long, but this has been my sole motive. I want the thought of it to die out of people's minds before I bring her home." "She is not with you, then?"