that he toiled first and foremost for his own advancement to a very
cheap reputation; he would not allow her to lose sight of it had she wished. But
during the present winter she had discerned in him a genuine zeal to help the
suffering, a fervour in kindly works of which she had not believed him capable.
Very slowly the conviction had come to her, but in the end she could not resist
it. One evening, in telling her of the hideous misery he had been amongst, his
voice failed and she saw moisture in his eyes. Was his character changing? Had
she wronged him in attaching too much importance to a fault which was merely on
the surface? Oh, but there were too many indisputable charges against him. Yet a
man's moral nature may sometimes be strengthened by experience of the evil he
has wrought. All this rushed through her mind as she now stood gazing at him.
    »But how can they credit an anonymous letter?« she said. »How can they
believe the worst of you before making inquiries?«
    »They have been to the office of the Company. Everything is upside down.
They say Hilary isn't to be found.«
    »Who can have written such a letter?«
    »How do I know? I have enemies enough, no doubt. Who hasn't that makes
himself a leader?«
    There was the wrong note again. It discouraged her; she was silent.
    »Look here, Adela,« he said, »do you believe this?«
    »Believe it!«
    »Do you think I'm capable of doing a thing like that - scraping together by
pennies the money of the poorest of the poor just to use it for my own purposes
- could I do that?«
    »You know I do not believe it.«
    »But you don't speak as if you were certain. There's something - But how am
I to prove I'm innocent? How can I make people believe I wasn't in the plot?
They've only my word - who'll think that enough? Anyone can tell a lie and stick
to it, if there's no positive proof against him. How am I to make you believe
that I was taken in?«
    »But I tell you that a doubt of your innocence does not enter my mind. If it
were necessary, I would stand up in public before all who accused you and
declare that they were wrong. I do not need your assurance. I recognise that it
would be