She did not think it necessary to explain that in those early days, when he was an impecunious young man and she a good-looking girl with a larger dowry than most girls, he had expended much time and eloquence in endeavouring to persuade her to accept his name in exchange for her fortune. She had believed then in the honesty of his professions of love, though she had felt too sisterly towards him to yield to his wishes; and it had been her one desire ever since her own happy marriage to see him happily married also. In Mrs Lawless she believed she had found a worthy mate for him. "Zoe," she exclaimed suddenly, turning appealingly towards her friend, "you won't let this shocking affair prejudice you against the poor boy! He may be able to justify himself. I can't believe that there isn't some explanation. It seems a horrible gigantic mistake... You won't be prejudiced, will you?" she pleaded. "I am not prejudiced, Kate," the other answered. There was in the steady voice, in the expression of the composed face, so little encouragement to be read that Mrs Smythe for the first time entertained serious doubts of Karl's success. She had imagined that his suit was prospering satisfactorily; now, like a further darkening of the already dark cloud that depressed her spirit, it was borne in upon her consciousness that Zoe Lawless did not love him. She could not love him and remain so entirely unmoved in face of the awful fate that overshadowed him. "Of course," she went on, still more dejectedly, for her heart was sorely troubled, "no woman cares to have her name mixed up in a scandal like this. It would be only a great love that could live through such an ordeal. I suppose I'm foolish, Zoe, but I had hoped--" She paused, unable to complete the sentence, and surveyed the dark glowing beauty of her silent companion with added distress in her eyes. "Oh, Zoe!" she burst out impulsively. "He thinks the world of you... There's a new quality comes into his voice whenever he speaks of you. You are the sunshine of the land to him--it's his own phrase. If he thought he stood no chance of winning you, I don't believe he would attempt to defend himself against this awful charge--I truly don't." A wave of colour swept over Zoe Lawless' face, but beyond the swift blush she showed no sign of embarrassment. "My dear," she said, "you are mistaken--utterly mistaken." "How can I be mistaken, Zoe, when I had it from his own lips? He would never forgive me for telling you... And, indeed, I ought to have held my peace. He could tell you so much more convincingly himself. I'm a fool to have spoken... It's the wrong time to speak of such things. But my mind's so full of him, poor boy!" Mrs Lawless got up, and stooping over her chair kissed her affectionately.