"I saw that only too plainly by your letter, which brought me to my senses; but it was unkind in me to do as I did."
"No, not exactly unkind, as nearly every one supposed me guilty."
"But I ought not to have been so hasty, for there are always two sides to a question, and I did not wait to hear yours."
"You have not heard it yet, and still you overlook the charge made against me."
"Of course I do."
"But it has never been explained away."
"Oh, that was not what troubled me, but—well, nothing ought to have troubled me," answered Nellie, slightly confused.
"The intoxication she means," thought Fred, and the color rose to his face.
Nellie observed this, and was sorry she had said what she did.
"As I wrote you, I could have explained it fully to you. I know what you mean."