her second for t’ other, and drove a tandem of ’em to live the spangled hog you are; and down went the mother of the boy to the place she liked better, and my other girl here—­the one you cheated for her salvation—­ you tried to cajole her from home and me, to send her the same way down.  She stuck to decency.  Good Lord! you threatened to hang yourself, guitar and all.  But her purse served your turn.  For why?  You ’re a leech.  I speak before ladies or I’d rip your town-life to shreds.  Your cause! your romantic history! your fine figure! every inch of you ’s notched with villany!  You fasten on every moneyed woman that comes in your way.  You’ve outdone Herod in murdering the innocents, for he didn’t feed on ’em, and they’ve made you fat.  One thing I’ll say of you:  you look the beastly thing you set yourself up for.  The kindest blow to you ‘s to call you impostor.’

He paused, but his inordinate passion of speech was unsated:  his white lips hung loose for another eruption.

I broke from my aunt Dorothy to cross over to my father, saying on the way:  ’We ’ve heard enough, sir.  You forget the cardinal point of invective, which is, not to create sympathy for the person you assail.’

‘Oh! you come in with your infernal fine language, do you!’ the old man thundered at me.  ’I ‘ll just tell you at once, young fellow—­’

My aunt Dorothy supplicated his attention.  ‘One error I must correct.’  Her voice issued from a contracted throat, and was painfully thin and straining, as though the will to speak did violence to her weaker nature.  ’My sister loved Mr. Richmond.  It was to save her life, because I believed she loved him much and would have died, that Mr. Richmond—­in pity—­offered her his hand, at my wish’:  she bent her head:  ’at my cost.  It was done for me.  I wished it; he obeyed me.  No blame—­’ her dear mouth faltered.  ‘I am to be accused, if anybody.’

She added more firmly:  ’My money would have been his.  I hoped to spare his feelings, I beg his forgiveness now, by devoting some of it, unknown to him, to assist him.  That was chiefly to please myself, I see, and I am punished.’

‘Well, ma’am,’ said the squire, calm at white heat; ’a fool’s confession ought to be heard out to the end.  What about the twenty-five thousand?’

‘I hoped to help my Harry.’

‘Why didn’t you do it openly?’

She breathed audible long breaths before she could summon courage to say:  ’His father was going to make an irreparable sacrifice.  I feared that if he knew this money came from me he would reject it, and persist.’

Had she disliked the idea of my father’s marrying?

The old man pounced on the word sacrifice.  ’What sacrifice, ma’am? 
What’s the sacrifice?’

I perceived that she could not without anguish, and perhaps peril of a further exposure, bring herself to speak, and explained:  ’It relates to my having tried to persuade my father to marry a very wealthy lady, so that he might produce the money on the day appointed.  Rail at me, sir, as much as you like.  If you can’t understand the circumstances without a chapter of statements, I’m sorry for you.  A great deal is due to you, I know; but I can’t pay a jot of it while you go on rating my father like a madman.’