"No, and I do not care. Doubt your own senses rather than believe that. Ferdy Wickersham is your authority for that."
"No, he is not--not my only authority. You are all so hard on Ferdy. He is a good friend of mine."
"He is not," asserted Keith. "He is your worst enemy--your very worst. He is incapable of being a friend."
"What have you against him?" she demanded. "I know you and he don't like each other, but--"
"Well, for one thing, he deceived a poor girl, and then abandoned her--and--"
"Perhaps, your information is incorrect? You know how easy it is to get up a slander, and such women are--not to be believed. They always pretend that they have been deceived."
"She was not one of 'such women,'" said Keith, calmly. "She was a perfectly respectable woman, and the granddaughter of an old friend of mine."
"Well, perhaps, you may have been misinformed?"
"No; I have the evidence that Wickersham married her--and--"
"Oh, come now--that is absurd! Ferdy married! Why, Ferdy never cared enough for any one to marry her--unless she had money. He has paid attention to a rich woman, but--You must not strain my credulity too far. I really thought you had something to show against him. Of course, I know he is not a saint,--in fact, very far from it,--but he does not pretend to be. But, at least, he is not a hypocrite."