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"I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached

it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me

to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding

between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now

fled together."

"My Mary? Impossible!"

"It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither

you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you

admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most

dangerous men in England-a ruined gambler, an absolutely

desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece

knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he

had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she

alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said,

but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing

him nearly every evening."

"I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an

ashen face.