'
'My poor grandfather! How dreadful!' exclaimed Mary, pale with pity and
shame. 'Did he deserve his disgrace, poor unhappy creature--or was he
the victim of false accusation?'
'I can hardly tell you that, Mary, any more than I can tell whether
Warren Hastings deserved the abuse that was wreaked upon him at one
time, or the acquittal that gave the lie to his slanderers in after
years. The events occurred forty years ago--the story was only half
known then, and like all such stories formed the basis for every kind of
exaggeration and perversion.'
'Does Maulevrier know?' faltered Mary.
'Maulevrier knows all that is known by the general public, and no more.'
'And you have married the granddaughter of a disgraced man,' said Mary,
with a piteous look. 'Did you know--when you married me?'
'As much as I know now, dear love. If you had been Jonathan Wild's
granddaughter you would have been just as dear to me. I married _you_,
dearest; I love _you_; I believe in _you_. All the grandfathers in
Christendom would not shake my faith by one tittle.
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