“No, my Lord, but you see I had refused to give him any more money. It took him a long time to believe that, but he did at last⁠—and when he did.⁠ ⁠…”

“I see, you had refused. But you’ve sent him some since.”

“My Lord, I wanted him back.”

“And you thought that would bring him?”

“I don’t know, my Lord, I acted on my father’s advice.”

Something in the Judge’s face, in the sound of the papers behind him, in the sudden crossing of his uncle’s legs, told Val that she had made just the right answer. “Crafty!” he thought; “by Jove, what humbug it all is!”

The Judge was speaking:

“Just one more question, Mrs. Dartie. Are you still fond of your husband?”