d have greatly adorned the legal profession if Fate had been
kinder. Besides, Mr. Drummond was his guest and there by his invitation,
which to his mind was strong presumptive proof that Mr. Ramsay's charges
were without foundation. "Grave accusations these, Mr. Ramsay,--very grave
accusations. I trust you are making them upon some better grounds than
mere personal prejudice or idle rumor, if you expect me to believe them.
Not that I mean any discourtesy to you, sir, in saying this," he said, in
his roundest, most impressive tones.

"What do you mean? The fellow was sent to Coventry by his regiment and
forced to resign, his father has cut him off with a shillin', he can't
show his face in London, and he has been kicked out of his club for
keepin' too many aces up his sleeve. I should think that was grounds
enough for an accusation. Do you suppose I go about inventin' lies to take
away other people's characters?" said Mr. Ramsay excitedly.

"Do not exaggerate. Be calm; be reasonable," said Mr. Brown. "Observe, I
do not accuse you of wilful misrepresentation, but of misapprehension,
perhaps of prejudice. There is a difference. Note it, and do not take
offence, my young friend, too readily."

"I am not offended, but what I say is true, and I hope you will act upon
it, so that Miss Brown shall not go out ridin' round the country with
that--" began Mr. Ramsay, only to be interrupted by--

"No violence; no excitement. Let us look at the thing rationally," from
Mr. Brown. "Mr. Drummond is my guest,--my guest, remember; introduced to
me by one of the first men in New York; received everywhere. You are both
strangers to me. This is a matter of purely individual testimony," Mr.
Brown went on, feeling that he was growing exquisitely subtile, and
clothing himself in imaginary ermine as he spoke. "He may tell me that
_you_ are a rascal. In that event, how am I to know who is the honest man
and who the villain? Shall I believe you, or shall I believe him, in the
absence of documentary evidence and disinterested statement? As my guest,
he has, if anything, the prior claim to consideration; though I am far
from saying that whatever views you may advance will not have equal weight
with me,--as _views_, mark you."

"You can believe who you please and what you please," said Mr. Ramsay;
"but remember that I have given you warnin'. He may be your guest, but he
is my cousin, and I should think that I ought to know what I am talkin'
about.