“He is a fortunate boy! But why the tears in his case?”
“I felt so badly to be disappointed in him.”
“Did you expect to work a miracle there, my dear? Did you think to reform such an inveterate young reprobate with a glance?”
“I’m not sure that I ever asked myself either of those questions,” she replied, slowly; “but he promised me something, and I expected him to keep his word.”
“Men don’t keep such promises, Bertha,” the visitor said. “You shouldn’t have expected it.”
“I don’t know why not.”
“Because a man who drinks will drink again.”
“I didn’t refer to drinking,” she said quietly. “It was quite another thing.”
“Ah!”
She looked down at her rings and seemed to consider how much of her confidence she should give him, and the consideration led her to look up presently and say: