‘I certainly should not have expected it from any wish of your own.’

‘I should not have dared to come, had you not bade me.  You know that.’

’I know nothing of the kind;—­but as you are here we will not quarrel as to your motives.  Has Miss Carbury pardoned you as yet?  Has she forgiven your sins?’

‘We are friends,—­if you mean that.’

’Of course you are friends.  She only wanted to have somebody to tell her that somebody had maligned you.  It mattered not much who it was.  She was ready to believe any one who would say a good word for you.  Perhaps I wasn’t just the person to do it, but I believe even I was sufficient to serve the...