“I wanted to too much,” said Evanston; “that was the trouble.”
Mr. Carteret looked puzzled. “I don’t think I understand,” he said. From his somewhat objective point of view the more complex personality of Evanston was baffling.
“It was this way, Carty,” Evanston went on. “Her mother—you know her mother?”
Mr. Carteret nodded. “Always for the stuff,” he observed.
“Exactly,” said Evanston. “Well, to put it bluntly, she made the match.”
“But I thought you were rather keen about her.”
“So I was,” said Evanston; “but Edith wasn’t keen about me. The mother forced her into it, and I was foolish enough to believe that if she married me, she would care for me. The fact was,” he added, “I was walking on air, with my head in a dream.”
“I understand,” said Mr. Carteret.
“Well, we were married,” continued Evanston, “and then suddenly out of a blue sky came the panic and the T. & B. failure, and I was flat broke and a defaulter.”
“Defaulter!” said Mr. Carteret.