Green smiled grimly.
"That couldn't have been inherited from me, I suppose?" said he. "I asked Mrs. Bent about Basil Everman. She said that she had been persecuted by John Bates, then sinking into debauchery, and that your brother had protected her. She looked upon him as a sort of Saint George."
"Oh! oh! oh!" wept Mary Alcestis.
Richard rose to his feet.
"Does Eleanor know this?" he demanded.
"She knows now," said Dr. Green sorely.
"By Gad, you've got her into a pretty mess between you!" said Richard.
Thomasina sat with her hand covering her eyes. Suddenly she took it away and looked sharply at Mary Alcestis.
"This isn't the time to cry!"
"You cannot understand," sobbed Mary Alcestis.