"He came for money; he had to have it if he was to go. Ashley asked me for it. I gave it him."
"As a loan? He sent it back."
"I didn't mean it as a loan. But, as you say, he's sent it back."
"Why?"
"Because he didn't want her to be indebted to me for it." His bitterness cropped out in his tone; he had desired a share in the work which Ashley would not give him. He must have forgotten his wife for the moment, or he would have kept that bitterness out of his voice; indeed for the moment he seemed to have forgotten her, as he leant his head on his hand and stared gloomily at the floor.
"So we gave him the money, and he went away again." She was silent. "You wouldn't wonder so much if you'd seen him."
"I don't wonder," she said. "I haven't seen him, but I don't wonder. And you never told her?"
"No, I never told her."
"Nor Ashley Mead?"