"
"Purity! Oh yes, she's very pure--you know that, don't you? No
doubt you'll be a witness, and give evidence for her, and against
me;--let everybody know how perfect she is, and what a beast and a
liar I am! You and your Ida Starr!"
Julian rushed out of the room.
Waymark could not but
observe peculiarities in Mr. Woodstock's behaviour during the
conversation about Ida. At first it had occurred to him--knowing a
good deal of Abraham's mode of life--that there must be some
disagreeable secret at the bottom, and for a moment the
ever-recurring distrust of Ida rose again. But he had soon observed
that the listener was especially interested in the girl's earliest
years, and this pointed to possibilities of a different kind. What
was it that was being taken from the drawer to show him, when the
old man suddenly altered his mind? Mr. Woodstock had perhaps known
Ida's parents. Waymark waited with some curiosity for the interview
on the morrow.
Accordingly, he was surprised when, on presenting himself, Mr.
Woodstock did not at first appear to remember what he had called
about.
"Oh, ay, the girl!" Abraham exclaimed, on being reminded. "What did
you say her name was? Ida something--"
Waymark was puzzled and suspicious, and showed both feelings in his
looks, but Mr.
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