Micky
knocked him into the middle of next week," Rochester said calmly.

June's eyes gleamed.

"Never! Well, I'm delighted to hear it! What was it about?"

Rochester shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh, they were gossiping about some woman, as far as I could make
out--a woman Micky had been rather friendly with, from what I
gathered--they didn't mention her name, but----" he hesitated. "They
spoke of her as a girl from ... I've forgotten the name, but I think
it was a petticoat shop----"

"Eldred's?" said June sharply.

"Yes, that was it! What do you know about it?"

"Nothing--go on! What were they saying?"

"That she'd been to Paris with Mellowes, and Mellowes overheard it,
and there was a bit of a fight, and Mellowes said that the girl was
his wife...."

June gasped.

"_What_!"

Rochester looked rather uncomfortable.

"It's only club talk," he said deprecatingly. "Dare say it's all
lies."

June pushed back her chair; her brain was in a whirl; she stared at
Rochester with dazed eyes.

"Of course you're mad, quite mad," she said calmly.

"Or I am! which is it?... My dear man, the girl Micky went to Paris
with was Esther! _my_ Esther Shepstone! and here you are trying to
tell me that she and Micky are _married_!" She burst into hysterical
laughter.

"I'm not trying to tell you," he protested injuredly. "It's only
what I heard; and any way, if Mellowes went to Paris with Miss
Shepstone----"

He broke off before the anger in June's eyes.

"If you speak about Esther in that tone of voice again, I shall hate
you for ever," she said furiously. "If you must know the truth, I'll
tell it to you, and another time just don't judge people till you've
heard both sides of the question," and she promptly proceeded to tell
him the whole story of her meeting with Esther, and all that had
happened since.

Rochester listened quietly, but when she had finished, he said--

"Micky ought to have finished that skunk last night. If he cares for
Miss Shepstone...."

"Oh but I don't think he does now," June struck in sadly. "He hasn't
been near her since they came back from Paris, and every one says that
Marie Deland----" she broke off.

"And when Miss Shepstone gets to hear what happened last night?"
Rochester asked drily.

"Oh, but she won't--she doesn't know anybody who would tell her except
you or me," June said positively. "And of course she must _never_
know. She never liked Micky, though _why_!..." She shrugged h