“That is the story?”

“Yes.”

“And what caused the separation which has just taken place?”

“A renewal of this intimacy,” said Mrs. Arden.

“A very serious charge; and, I believe without foundation in truth,” replied Hendrickson.  He spoke slowly, yet not with strong emphasis.  His auditors did not know that he was simply controlling his voice to hide his agitation.

“Oh, there is no doubt as to its truth,” said Mrs. Arden.  “The facts have been substantiated; so Mrs. Anthony told me to-day; and she has been one of Mrs. Dexter’s most intimate friends.”

“What facts?” inquired Hendrickson.

“Facts, that if they do not prove crime against Mrs. Dexter, show her to have been imprudent to the verge of crime.”

“Can you particularize?” said the young man.

“Well, no I can’t just do that.  Mrs. Anthony ran on at such a rate that I couldn’t get the affair adjusted in my mind.  But she asserts positively that Mrs. Dexter has gone considerably beyond the boundary of prudence; and she is no friend of Dexter’s, I can assure you.  As far as I can learn, there have been frequent meetings between this lover and Mrs. Dexter during the husband’s absence.  An earlier return home, a few days ago, led to a surprise and an exposure.  The result you know.”

“I must make bold to pronounce this whole story a fabrication,” said Mr. Hendrickson, with rising warmth; “It is too improbable.”

“Worse things than that have happened, and are happening every day,” remarked Mrs. Arden.

“Still I shall disbelieve the story,” said Mr. Hendrickson, firmly.

“What else would justify him in sending her home to her aunt?” asked Mrs. Arden.

“He sent her home, then?  That is the report?” remarked Hendrickson.

“Some say one thing and some another.”

“And a story loses nothing in the repetition.”

“You are very skeptical,” said Miss Arden.

“I wish all men and women were more skeptical than they are, in touching the wrong doings of others,” replied the young man.  “The world is not so bad as it seems.  Now I am sure that if the truth of this affair could really be known, we should find scarcely a single fact in agreement with the report.  I have heard that Mr. Dexter is blindly jealous of his wife.”

“Oh, as to that, Mrs. Anthony says that he made himself ridiculous by his jealousy at Saratoga last summer.  And I now remember that he used to act strangely sometimes,” said Mrs. Arden.

“A jealous man,” returned Hendrickson, “is a very bad judge of his wife’s conduct; and more likely to see guilt than innocence in any circumstance that will bear a double explanation.  Let us then lean to the side of charity, and suppose good until the proof of evil stares us in the very face; as I shall do in this instance.  I have always believed Mrs. Dexter to be the purest of women; and I believe so still.”