"Why—I—I don't know," she hesitated.
"Do you think he took them?"
The little woman looked into her husband's eyes as she purposely delayed her reply.
"No," she said at length. "I do not. But his own father accused him."
Appleton leaned forward in his chair and brought his fist down upon the desk-top.
"I don't give a damn who accused him!" he cried. "That boy never stole a bond, or any other thing, and I'll stake my last cent on it!"
"Oh, it isn't the bonds. Ethel does not believe he stole them. But—the other—you heard what the guide said—and Ethel heard it. She never can get over that! He may be honest—but he is a perfect villain!"
"Hold on, now. Let's go easy. Maybe it isn't so bad as it sounds."
"Not so bad! Hubert Appleton, do you mean to tell me that you would, for a minute, think of allowing your niece to marry such a man?"
Appleton smiled into the outraged eyes of his wife.