d,' Paul responded in a voice so strangled and unlike his
own that it positively startled him.

'I cannot help knowing,' said Mrs. Hampton, 'that I have made a very
serious mistake in giving way to my daughter's desire to go upon the
stage. But I trusted her so completely that I had no fear at all of what
has happened. You must know, Mr. Armstrong, that you have misbehaved
yourself most cruelly.'

'I have said so to myself a thousand times,' said Paul, 'and I have no
defence to offer now.'

'You have done a wicked and a cruel thing,'pursued the mother. 'You have
brought my daughter into opposition with me for the first time in her
life, and you have filled her head with ideas which can only lead to
suffering and disgrace.'

'Forgive me, Mrs. Hampton,' Paul said. 'I have acted precipitously and
wrongly, and I am much to blame; but I have never striven for an instant
to confuse Miss Hampton's mind. If I have won her love, I have done it
half unconsciously, and it began in friendship and esteem. I ought, I
know now, to have told her of that miserable tie which binds me; but
at first I did not think it necessary to speak a word about that. A man
would have to be a rare coxcomb,' he went on, 'to think it needful that
he should make public proclamation of a fact like that. My life has been
ruined for years past, and I did not care to talk about it I did not
dream of harm until harm was done.'

'I can only say, Mr. Armstrong,'the mother answered, 'that there can be
no discussion about this matter, and that I rely upon my daughter to do
justice to herself. She will learn in a little while to know that you
have done her a very serious wrong, and that will help her to live her
trouble down.'

'Madam,' cried Paul, rising to his feet, and speaking with an
impassioned swiftness, 'I beseech you to listen to me for one minute
only; if I try to justify myself in some small degree, you will
understand my purpose. At an age when life is opening for most men I
had tied myself to a hopeless burden. I found myself shut out from every
chance of happiness; such a thing as home I dared not even dream of. The
law can afford me no relief from the snare into which I have fallen;
I am excluded from everything that makes life bright to other men. My
experiences of woman's friendship have not been happy, and I had come
to the belief that I was condemned to go through life without
companionship. I met your daughter; we found that our minds cam