Grant stood, tightly compressing his lips, for some moments. He then
said:

"You remember that affair of the gold ring?"

"Very well."

"You mentioned this to C--."

"No. Nor to a living soul since the occurrence of the fact."

"What?"

"Nothing on that subject has ever passed my lips. I believed that
you saw and repented of your error, and in honour and in conscience
refrained from even the remotest allusion to the subject."

"How, then, did Mr. C--become cognisant of the fact?"

"If cognisant all, it was from another source than the one you
supposed."

"I never mentioned it. You were the only one to whom the
circumstance was communicated. How, then, could the matter have
gotten abroad?"

"I don't believe a single member of the congregation ever heard of
it."