"You are doing yourself a great injustice, Stephen. Think what you owe to your family. Think of Marguerite. Surely you will break her heart."
"Ah, Hester, you have spoken truly. I must bear up for the sake of my child; but oh God, it is hard to be branded in the eyes of the world as a rogue and a scoundrel. Mothers will curse me, and the orphan's wail will haunt me throughout time and eternity!"
Once more Mr. Verne placed his hand against his breast as if to ease the spasmodic pain which had then seized him.
"He is going fast," murmured Mrs. Montgomery, as she noted the livid lips and pallid face that followed the spasm.
"This cup of coffee will tempt anybody, and the rolls are delicious; just taste one, Stephen."
"I was thinking of my darling child, Hester; how do you think she will bear the news? And to think of her being exposed to the scoffs of the world. Hester, I can stand anything but that," and the groans that followed were agonizing.
"Stephen, I have more faith in Marguerite than you have. If you think she will mope and worry herself to death you are sadly mistaken." Then in assuring tones added, "I do not wish to hurt your feelings, Stephen, but I firmly believe that as regards the financial trouble, Marguerite will not care a straw. She is not one of your namby-pamby girls, whom you could dress up and put under a glass case to look at. No, Marguerite is a rational, human being, capable of taking her place in the world, and looking misfortune in the face with a determination to succeed in whatever she may attempt."
"Hester, you are a student of human nature. You are capable of judging aright. God grant that my child may meet this trouble as you predict," said Mr. Verne, as he tried to swallow the food which had been so temptingly prepared by the ministering angel who now strove to make smooth the hard, rough pathway over which he now daily trod.
It was Mrs. Montgomery's hard, strong hand, that penned the lines conveying the news to Marguerite. "I11 news comes soon enough." was the former's remark, "and we can afford to await the next mail."
As the important missive is on its way across the broad waters of the Atlantic, let us take the liberty of intruding upon the privacy of the mother and daughter who are still occupying their handsome suite of apartments in Picadilly Square.