"I know you are innocent, Floyd."
Only the falsely accused can tell how the first assurance of trust from another revives hope and faith in their kind. Robert Floyd was no man to lean on strangers, yet Shagarach's words were as soothing to him as a gentle hand laid on a feverish forehead.
"Your cousin Harry came here to verify his knowledge of the will, which disinherited him, did he not?"
"Harry was disinherited, that is true."
"How came you to give up the profession of botanist, in which your uncle trained you?"
"Men interest me more than vegetables."
"But you refused your uncle's wealth, that would have given you power among men."
"It was not mine. I had not earned it. I feared the temptation."
"You are a journalist, I believe?"
"Six months ago I happened to report a conference of charities for the Beacon. Today I am eking out my income by occasional work for that paper."