ping after
all. Forcing an indulgent laugh, he said, 'My dear fellow, it's very
kind and generous of you to say all that, and it sounds very pretty
and almost probable, but you can't expect us seriously to believe it,
you know!'

For an instant this remark appeared to produce a reaction; but it
vanished at Vincent's reply. His pale worn face flushed angrily as he
faced him.

'No one seriously expects _you_ to believe in such things as honour
and friendship!' he said contemptuously. 'I am going to deal with your
share in this now. Mrs. Featherstone,' he added, 'will you forgive me
if I am obliged to pain you by anything I may have to say? That man
has thought fit to bring a disgraceful charge against my friend
here--it is only right that you should know how little he deserves
credit!'

Secretly Mrs. Featherstone was only too glad to see Caffyn
discomfited, but all she did was to say stiffly, 'Oh, pray don't
consider my feelings, Mr. Holroyd!'

Vincent's indignation was enough in itself to make him merciless, and
then, as a matter of policy, he was determined to disable the enemy
to the utmost. Everything that had come to his knowledge of Caffyn's
proceedings he now exposed with biting irony. He told the story of the
letter, suppressed to all appearances out of gratuitous malice, and of
the cruel terrorism exercised over little Dolly; he showed how Caffyn
had tried to profit by his supposed discovery of the fraud, and how
Mark had studiously refrained from undeceiving him, and gave a
damaging description of the sordid threats and proposals he had
himself received that evening. 'This is the high-minded gentleman who,
acting under a keen sense of duty, has chosen to denounce Mr. Ashburn
just now,' he concluded.

The victory was won. Caffyn's face was livid as he heard him--he had
never foreseen such black ingratitude as this, and it upset all his
calculations. He still had his doubts, after so many careful
experiments, that the story of Vincent's was a fabrication, even
though it was not absolutely inconsistent with what he had observed,
and he could see no motive for shielding the culprit. But it was plain
that every one there believed it--Vincent's word would be taken before
his--he was thoroughly beaten.

No one had seen Gilda come in, but she had been standing for some time
with red eyes and flushed face by one of the windows, and in the
general stir which followed Vincent's explanation Mr. Featherstone
came u