exemplary husband. "But circumstances have been against me. In the
first place, I was in error somewhat, as you know, in regard to my
wife's expectations from her father. I did not marry her for her money,
as you also know, but appearances were such that I naturally concluded
she would have a considerable income of her own. I did not care for
myself one way or the other, but I was glad to believe that there would
be the means to continue to her the mode of life that she had been used
to. I acted upon this supposition, false, as it turned out, and
anticipated, most imprudently, I confess, the little fortune that I
imagined to be secure. When we came here, where living is so much more
expensive than in the country"--with no Redford to draw upon--"I
surrounded my wife with the comforts that were her due, and which I
fully believed she had every right to." He waved his hand over the
still blooming Axminster carpet and the brocaded suite the family was
not allowed to sit on. "I spent--we spent the little capital
represented by your father's wedding present--I had an erroneous idea
that it was to be an annual allowance pending the eventual division of
the estate; and then--well, then you know what happened."

Deb nodded.

"Did you," she inquired feelingly, "borrow of those professional
money-lenders?"

She was prepared to be very sympathetic in that case; but Mr
Goldsworthy repelled the suggestion with scorn.

"Certainly not. I never borrowed money in my life. I struggled and
scraped and saved, as best I could; I endeavoured in vain to augment my
small income by little speculations--harmless little dabblings in