was innocent; his parents were in Society, but they never
gave him a moment's anxiety from his infancy. He believed in
company prospectuses, and in the purity of elections, and in
women marrying for love, and even in a system for winning at
roulette. He never quite lost his faith in it, but he
dropped more money than his employers could afford to lose.
When last I heard of him, he was believing in his innocence;
the jury weren't. All the same, I really am innocent just
now of something everyone accuses me of having done, and so
far as I can see, their accusations will remain unfounded."

"Rather an unexpected attitude for you."

"I love people who do unexpected things. Didn't you always
adore the man who slew a lion in a pit on a snowy day? But
about this unfortunate innocence. Well, quite long ago, when
I'd been quarrelling with more people than usual, you among
the number--it must have been in November, I never quarrel
with you too near Christmas--I had an idea that I'd like to
write a book. It was to be a book of personal reminiscences,
and was to leave out nothing."

"Reginald!"

"Exactly what the Duchess said when I mentioned it to her. I
was provoking and said nothing, and the next thing, of
course, was that everyone heard that I'd written the book and
got it in the press. After that, I might have been a gold-
fish in a glass bowl for all the privacy I got. People
attacked me about it in the most unexpected places, and