"Do you know her reason?"
"I am afraid," he said deliberately, "that there can be only one.
It's a miserable thing to believe of any woman, and I'd be glad - "
He hesitated. She kept her eyes turned away from him, but her
manner denoted impatience.
"Over on this side," he continued, "it seems that Monty was a
gentleman in his day, and his people were - well, of your order!
There was an Earl I believe in the family, and no doubt they are
highly respectable. He went wrong once, and of course they never
gave him another chance. It isn't their way - that sort of people!
I'll admit he was pretty low down when I came across him, but I
reckon that was the fault of those who sent him adrift - and after
all there was good in him even then. I am going to tell you
something now, Miss Wendermott, which I've often wanted to - that
is, if you're interested enough to care to hear it!"
All the time she was asking herself how much he knew. She motioned
him to proceed.
"Monty had few things left in the world worth possessing, but there
was one which he had never parted with, which he carried with him
always. It was the picture of his little girl, as she had been when
his trouble happened."
He stooped a little as though to see over the white rails, but she
was too adroit.
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