“Very poor,” insistently.
“I don’t know about that,” answered Duncan doubtfully. “She dresses extremely well....”
“That signifies nothing; the clothes may have been given her by wealthy friends. Has Miss Langdon any relatives dependent upon her?”
“Yes, a great-aunt; a lovely old Quakeress. Why do you ask?”
“A woman will steal for another when she would not steal for herself....”
“Sentiment would not influence a kleptomaniac.”
“The mantel of kleptomania, like charity, covers a multitude of sins,” retorted Potter. “Let me explain,” he added, as Duncan’s color rose. “Kleptomaniacs are usually found among the wealthy class; their pleasure is derived from the act of stealing, not in the thing stolen. For instance, a man, possessing a handsome gold watch-chain, will steal a dozen chains, but once the desire to steal is gratified, he never cares to sell or wear the stolen chains; he may even return them to their rightful owners. Now, back of every robbery you cite against Miss Langdon, lies personal gain—the acquisition of forty dollars....”
“A small sum for which to ruin oneself,” protested Duncan, fighting stubbornly against his own doubts as well as Potter’s arguments.
“The size of the sum is only relative, according to the need for the money. In your eyes forty dollars seems trivial; but perhaps Miss Langdon may have considered the money worth the risk she took.”
“She could have gone to mother,” burst in Duncan.