"You mean to say he never even kissed you?" "Kissed me!--of course not!--how dare you, Awdrey!" "My dear child, you play the injured innocence game very well, but when you make out you don't know what sort of man Furlonger is, you're carrying it a bit too far." "Of course, I know he's been in prison," and Tony sobbed drily, "but as for kissing me, I'm sure he's not as bad as that." "Are you trying to be funny?" asked Awdrey sharply. Tony only sniffed in reply, and her sister's gaze wandered round the windy, austere room, resting on the few photographs of school-girl friends on the mantelpiece. "I suppose you're in earnest," she said, after a pause, "but really, you're the weirdest thing, even in flappers, I've ever met. Perhaps in time you'll realise that even such a heinous crime as a kiss is a degree better than robbing a few score poor widows of their savings." Tony stopped crying suddenly, and a quiver passed through her. The expression of her eyes changed. "Awdrey--I--I think I'd like to be--alone--to do my packing." Half-an-hour later Tony's boxes were still empty, except for a foundation layer of the school-girl photographs. The bed and chairs were littered with underclothing, shoes, hats, books and frocks. Tony sat on the floor, staring miserably in front of her with tear-blind eyes that did not notice the surrounding confusion, so intent were they on the litter of a broken dream. Her dream, once so joyful, fresh and iridescent, was now a mere jumble of shards. She had defended Furlonger against her parents and her sister, but it had been the last effort of which her bleeding heart was capable. Her hero and his epic had now broken up into a terrible shatter of disillusion, to which her mother and Awdrey had added the most humiliating dust. She could not think which was worse--the motives of self-interest attributed by the one, or the love-motives attributed by the other. And though she denied both, at the bottom of her heart was a far worse accusation. Her stainless champion was a criminal, a false swearer, a defrauder of the helpless, a devourer of widows' houses. He had not sinned against her in the way her family imagined, but in a far more horrible, subtle way ... she shuddered, sickened and shrank. All the same she was glad that when others accused him she had taken his part. CHAPTER XII CHILDREN DANCING IN THE DUSK Nigel was late for supper that evening. He came in very quietly, and slipped into his place without a word. He had very little to say about the races. "Lost your money on Midsummer Moon?" said Leonard. "Well, you needn't look so glum--it was only five bob."