“In what manner?”
“Well,—that he had deceived another young woman.”
“Do you mean betrayed some other young woman?” said Adam bluntly.
Garde averted her gaze and answered: “Yes.”
“Well, suppose this was so, then what is your question?”
“The question is, what do you think the first young woman should do then—after she found out that—that this was true?”
“That would depend again on the particular young woman,” said Rust, who believed he was speaking as man to man, and who knew that when women are betrayed it is not always the fault wholly of the male-being in the case. “If she wanted to save the charter, or anything of that sort, I don’t see how this would alter the case particularly.”
“You wouldn’t excuse the man?” said Garde, turning pale under her brown stain.
Adam had in mind a painful incident which had occurred in the life of a friend of his in England. “I might,” he answered. “Possibly a great deal could be said in defense of the poor devil, in some way or another.”
“But,” insisted Garde, somewhat desperately, “if you were a girl you wouldn’t marry such a man?”