LALLIE,--By the time you get this letter I shall be out of
England, and I hope you won't make things worse for me than they
already are by trying to find out where I have gone or by writing
to my people and making a scene. The worst of these little
flirtations is that they always have to end, as this must, and you
must have known it."...

Micky drew in his breath hard; not an hour ago in this very room
Ashton had made out how cut-up he was at the turn his affairs had
taken, and yet all the time he had written this letter.

He flicked over a page and read on:--

"... I shall never forget you and the good times we've had
together. I should try and get back at Eldred's, if I were you.
It's a good thing we didn't get married as matters have turned
out, or the fat would have been in the fire with a vengeance. As
it is, I shall have all my work cut out to put the mater in a good
temper again. I am sending you some money by Mickey Mellowes; he's
a friend of mine and as rich as Croesus, and as selfish as the
devil. If he offers to take you out, let him, by all means. It
wouldn't be a bad thing if he took a fancy to you; he doesn't care
a hang for any one but himself. If only I'd got half his money ...
but what's the use of talking about it? Anyway, this is good-bye;
I shan't write again. Be a sensible girl, and try to see things
from my point of view. It would only have meant ruin for both of
us if I'd stuck to you. Good-bye; I send you my love for the last
time.

RAYMOND ASHTON."

And this from the man whom she loved; the man who had pretended to
love her!

Micky dragged forward a chair with his foot and sat down straddlewise.
He leaned an elbow on the chair-back and ran his fingers through his
hair with a sort of bewilderment.

"He's as rich as Croesus and as selfish as the devil...."

And this from Ashton, his friend--the man whom he had helped out of
scrapes scores of times; the man to whom he had lent money without the
least hope of its ever being returned; Micky felt as if he had a blow
in the face.

His thoughts were in a whirl; the whole world needed readjusting. Was
he selfish? he asked himself in perplexity--if so, it was quite
unconsciously, and anyway Ashton was the last person who should have
made the accusation.

"I am sending you some money by a friend of mine...."

There was no hint that the money was first