of the man. Armstrong brought suit for
divorce, intending to name Mr. Lawton as corespondent."

"Oh, how could he!" Anita cried, indignantly. "The man must have
been mad! My father was the soul of honor. Every one--the whole
world--knows that! Besides, his heart was buried, all that he did
not give to me, deep, deep in the sea where Mother and my little
brother and sister are lying! He never even looked at another
woman, save perhaps in kindness, to help and comfort those who
were in trouble. But when did you come into the case, Mr. Blaine?
That man whose voice I heard to-day must have been Herbert Armstrong
himself, of course. Why did he say that you, as well as my father,
were responsible for his tragedy?"

"Because when Mr. Lawton became aware of Armstrong's ungovernable
jealousy and the terrible length to which he meant to go in his effort
to revenge himself, he--your father--came to me to establish Mrs.
Armstrong's innocence, and his, in the eyes of the world. Armstrong's
case, although totally wrong from every standpoint, was a very strong
one, but fortunately I was able to verify the truth and was fully
prepared to prove it. Just on the eve of the date set for the trial,
however, a tragedy occurred which brought the affair to an abrupt and
pathetic end."

"A tragedy? Mrs. Armstrong's suicide, you mean?" asked Anita, in
hushed tones. "How awful!"

"She was deeply in love with her husband. His unjust accusations and
the public shame he was so undeservedly bringing upon her broke her
heart. I assured her that she would be vindicated, that Armstrong
would be on his knees to her at the trial's end. Your father tried to
infuse her with courage, to gird her for the coming struggle to defend
her own good name, but it was all of no use. She was too broken in
spirit. Life held nothing more for her. On the night before the case
was to have been called, she shot herself."

"Poor thing!" Anita murmured, with a sob running through her soft
voice. "Poor, persecuted woman. Why did she not wait! Knowing her own
innocence and loving her husband as she did, she could have forgiven
him for his cruel suspicion when it was all over! But surely Herbert
Armstrong knows the truth now. How can he blame you and my father for
the wreck which he made of his own life?"

"Because his mind has become unhinged. He was always excitable and
erratic, and his weeks of jealous wrath, culminating in the shock of
the sudden tragedy, and the re