eflection of
how much his daughter Victoria suffered from Mavis's good fortune),
but, even while these were talking and shaking her hand, two salient
emotions were already emerging from the welter in Mavis's mind. One of
these was an immeasurable, passionate regret for her child's untimely
death. If he had lived, she would now have been able to devote her
sudden enrichment to providing him, not only with the comforts that
wealth can secure, but also with a career when he should come to man's
estate. The other emotion possessing her was the inevitable effect of
unexpected good fortune on a great and persistent remorse: more than
ever, she suffered tortures of self-reproach for having set out to
marry her husband from motives of revenge against his family. Whilst
thus occupied with her thoughts, she became conscious that someone was
watching her; she turned in the direction from which she believed she
was being regarded, to see Charlie Perigal with his eyes fixed on her.
She looked him full in the eyes, the while she was relieved to find
that his presence did not affect the beating of her heart. Seeing that
she did not avoid his glance, he came over to her.

"I congratulate you," he said.

"Thank you," she replied indifferently.

"I have also to congratulate you on your marriage--that is, if you are
happy."

"I am very happy," she declared with conviction.

"That's more than I am."

"Indeed!" she remarked carelessly.

"Although, in some respects, I deserve all I've got--I'm bad and mean
right through."

"Indeed!" said Mavis, as before.

"But there's something to be said for me. To begin with, no one can
help being what they are. There's no more merit in your being good than
there is demerit in my being what I am."

"Did I ever lay claim to goodness?"

"Because you didn't, it goes nearer to making you good and admirable
than anything else you could do. Directly virtue becomes
self-conscious, it is vulgar."

Mavis began to wonder if it would ease the pain at her heart if she
were to confess her duplicity to her husband.

Perigal continued:

"An act is judged by its results; it is considered either virtuous or
vicious according as its results are harmful or helpful to the person
affected."

"Indeed!" said Mavis absently.

"Once upon a time, there was no right and no wrong, till one man in the
human tribe got more than his fair share of arrow-heads--then, his wish
to keep them without fighting for them