nst me in such a matter for your good.
My record is not immaculate; nor, I believe, is any as this. Well, you
shall hear some more plain speech, altogether man's. I have gone here
and there, and have had my adventures like other men. One of them you
have heard about--the story of that girl Amy Drake--the subject of Mrs.
Goodall's righteous wrath. You shall know the truth, and if it offends
your ears I can't help it. The girl simply threw herself into my arms,
on a railway journey, when we met by pure chance.'

'I don't care to hear that,' said Rhoda, turning away.

'But you _shall_ hear it. That story has predisposed you to believe the
worst things of me. If I hold you by force, you shall hear every word
of it. Mary seems to have given you mere dark hints--'

'No; she has told me the details. I know it all.'

'From their point of view. Very well; that saves me a lot of narrative.
What those good people didn't understand was the girl's character. They
thought her a helpless innocent; she was a--I'll spare you the word.
She simply planned to get me into her power--thought I should be forced
to marry her. It's the kind of thing that happens far oftener than you
would suppose; that's the reason why men so often smile in what you
would call a brutal way when certain stories are told to other men's
discredit. You will have to take this into account, Rhoda, before you
reach satisfactory results on the questions that have occupied you so
much. I was not in the least responsible for Amy Drake's desertion of
creditable paths. At the worst I behaved foolishly; and knowing I had
done so, knowing how thankless it was to try and clear myself at her
expense, I let people say what they would; it didn't matter. And you
don't believe me; I can see you don't. Sexual pride won't let you
believe me. In such a case the man must necessarily be the villain.'

'What you mean by saying you only behaved "foolishly," I can't
understand.'

'Perhaps not, and I can't explain as I once did in telling the story to
a man, a friend of mine. But however strict your moral ideas, you will
admit that a girl of thoroughly bad character isn't a subject for the
outcry that was raised about Miss Amy Drake. By taking a little trouble
I could have brought things to light which would have given worthy Mrs.
Goodall and cousin Mary a great shock. Well, that's enough. I have
never pretended to sanctity; but, on the other hand, I have never
behaved like a scoundr