"I never saw you so upset before, Alizon," he said, with an uneasy laugh; "is there anything particularly wrong about Mrs. Veilsturm--is she a leper, or is her character no better than it should be?"
"Have you heard anything against her character?"
"Not a word," replied Guy, promptly. "She's a great favourite with everyone. Her husband was a captain in some regiment that was stationed out at the Bermudas or Jamaica, and I believe he married her out there. When he died he left her well off, and she's a lively sort of woman, but I never heard anything against her morals."
"What about Major Griff?"
"Major Griff!--oh, he was a friend of her husband's, I believe, and wants to marry her, only she won't accept him. I hear that he is her trustee, and looks after her property for her; but what on earth do you know about her, Alizon?"
"I know too much to allow her to visit here."
"The deuce you do," cried Sir Guy, taking a seat, "and who told you anything about her?"
"My father," she replied quickly, turning her pale face towards him.
Sir Guy whistled, and looked thoughtfully out of the window, knowing well enough that Gabriel Mostyn's name being mentioned did not bode any good to Mrs. Veilsturm. He said nothing, however, as he judged it best to let his wife tell the story her own way, and that this course was the right one was proved by what followed.
"As you know, I attended my father during those four years when he was dying, and although I don't want to say a word against him, seeing that after all he was my father, yet, I heard sufficient from his own lips to convince me that his life had been a vile one. Not even the fact that I was his child prevented him boasting in my presence of his horrible actions, and although I invariably left the room when he began to talk like this, I could not help overhearing more than I cared to."