“How dreadful!” said Mollie, with an expression of disgust.
“It was to this office that I was taken and introduced to a gentleman with whom, Mr. Temple informed me, he had long had successful dealings. He spoke only truth, however, for it turns out that the man is his own agent.”
“Oh, papa! that is worse and worse!” cried his listener, aghast. “I never would have dreamed of anything so dishonorable of him—he has always seemed a perfect gentleman.”
“Yes, and yet there have been times when I have observed a cruel look in his eyes and about his mouth,” said Mr. Heatherford. “Of course, I have never known anything about the man until within the last few years, but I supposed him to be at least a gentleman. However, the lesson he has taught me, though dearly paid for, has, I trust, been salutary, while it has also revealed to me the fact that I possess a hundredfold richer mine of wealth and heart of gold in you, my darling, than I ever dreamed was mine.”
CHAPTER XXIII.
AFFLICTION OVERTAKES MOLLIE.
Mr. Heatherford sought an interview with Mr. Temple the morning following his revelations to Mollie, when he did not hesitate to inform that gentleman, much to his surprise, that he had discovered by whom, and by what methods, he had been fleeced of his last dollar.
Mr. Temple attempted to deny the impeachment; but there was so much of embarrassment and of conscious guilt in his manner that he stood self-convicted. He had been wholly unprepared for such a disclosure, and, consequently, was taken off his guard, while he was evidently deeply chagrined to learn that the secret of his blind operations had been discovered.
Mr. Heatherford had his say out in a quiet, dignified, but impressive manner, after which he bade the man good day, and left him to chew the cud of reflection, which he did in no enviable frame of mind.
Of course, Mrs. Temple and Philip were in ignorance of Mr. Temple’s agency in Mr. Heatherford’s misfortune—indeed, they knew nothing of his methods of doing business—and, upon learning that Mollie and her father were to leave for New York that evening, Mollie having sent a messenger with a brief explanatory note to Brookline, to get a box that had been stored there, they drove in town to pay them a farewell visit.