I shall never leave her again."
There were tears in Patty's eyes. "It is never too late to mend; and
when a man is penitent, truly and honestly penitent, much shall be
forgiven him. It is only those who are by nature coarse who do not
eventually surmount temptation. What you have told me I have known
this long while."
"You have known?" he cried with sinking heart.
"Yes. We live in a city where gossip travels quickly and thoroughly.
Mrs. Franklyn-Haldene was telling mother one afternoon that you drank.
I suppose she felt it her duty."
"To be sure," bitterly. "Was it while I have been living at home?"
"No; when the rumor came that you were coming."
He shrugged expressively. "I ought to have known."
"But come; you are up here to be cheered, not lectured. Let us play
billiards. I can hear John and Kate playing now. We'll play sides; and
if we win against those two, I promise to call you Richard once a day
while you are up here. Or, would you rather I played and sang?"
"Much rather," brightening up a bit. "There is always time to play
billiards. But first, I want you to come with me into the
reading-room.
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