"No, no, do not blame him," said the girl. "It was not altogether his fault. He was light-hearted and—and fickle by nature, and it was her fault as much as his."
"Hers?" said Margaret.
The girl looked at her with a vague wonder.
"Yes. Have you not guessed? The other woman!"
Margaret's face flushed.
"No!" she said.
"Yes, there was another woman. I discovered it by accident. I saw them together, and knew in an instant why he had left me. She was beautiful, more beautiful than I, and looked a lady, which I never was. And—and it was not wonderful that he should leave me—a poor, simple girl——"
"It was wicked, cruelly wicked!" exclaimed Margaret, hotly.
The girl sobbed.
"I did not know who she was! She looked good—and yet it was her fault! I went home—after seeing them—and waited for him to come that I might tax him with it! But he never came back! He sent me money—but I would not touch it! I—I had my savings, and I lived on them——"