‘What is it, John?’
‘Nothing very much. They want me—in the office,’ he said.
‘In the office! That makes me think—John, why are you here at this time of day?’
‘If you mean why am I not there—— I haven’t been there for three days. I have left the office,’ said John, in the carelessness of his exhausted state.
She caught his arm again with an almost shriek of dismay.
‘Left the office! when it is all you have to look to. Oh, John, John!’
‘What did it matter? They were very unjust: they made a false accusation: and then I discovered him. I found out why they suspected me, why I have been suspected all my life—even by you and—my mother, Susie.’
‘Oh, no, John. Oh, no, no, dear John. Never, never!’ cried Susie, vehemently. ‘Mother has suffered a great deal: she can’t forget: she can’t forgive even as we do. We do, John, don’t we? We do, we do!’
‘Forgive whom? The people that had always doubted me for a reason I didn’t even know?’
His face grew stern. He could say nothing of the other, whom it was both easier and harder to forgive. Susie did not dare to enter upon that subject. She gave his arm a little pressure, and said, softly,