“Sir,” said Hockmaster. “I've repaired a wrong that has set at rest a damned uneasy conscience.”
“From which I gather you have obeyed your conscience rather than your heart,” said Raine.
“I am going to be married,” replied Hockmaster, between the first puffs of a cigar he was lighting. “Perhaps you may not know that. So I guess I'd better fall back upon discretion. It is best in affairs between man and wife.”
“Yes, but suppose it was broken off?”
“What? My marriage?”
He stretched himself out in a comfortable attitude, his hands behind his head, and regarded Raine placidly.
“What sort of interest can the concerns of a worm like me have for you?”
“Every interest in the world,” replied Raine, flushing. “If it's merely a question of conscience on your part, I have no scruple in asking you to release Mrs. Stapleton from her engagement.”
“Did she send you?”
“Yes.”