"'Do come with us, papa!' said Clair, nestling in my arms.
"My wife looked up into my face appealingly. In that one moment, had I seized the opportunity, there was still a chance of redemption.
"'Robert!' she said, involuntarily raising her hands and clasping them.
"Ah, if I had met her appeal! If I had said: 'Do not go by this train; I will confess everything to you!' But the prompting did not come to me; if it had, I should have disregarded it.
"'I cannot come with you, Clair,' I said; 'I have such a deal to do before I leave London.'
"'Poor papa!' she said. 'That is why you keep out so late at night. Poor papa!'
"My wife turned her head from us, but I saw the scarlet blush on her face, which I attributed to her displeasure at my refusal. Or was it that she suspected my secret?
"'You have not betrayed me?' I said apart to my friend. 'She does not know how I have lost my fortune, and what has brought me to this?'
"'On my honor, no,' he answered. 'She has not the least suspicion of your stupid infatuation.'
"'You will not call it stupid in three or four weeks,' I said.