Behind all this was a mystery, which shall be explained here because the reader deserves to be more enlightened than the characters themselves.
Arthur Weldon's nature was a queer combination of weakness and strength.
He was physically brave but a moral coward.

The motherless son of a man wholly immersed in business, he had been much neglected in his youth and his unstable character was largely the result of this neglect.

On leaving college he refused a business career planned for him by his father, who cast him off with scornful indifference, and save for a slim temporary allowance promised to disinherit him.

It was during this period that Arthur met Louise and fell desperately in love with her.

The girl appeared to return the young fellow's devotion, but shrewd, worldly Mrs.Merrick, discovering that the boy was practically disinherited and had no prospects whatever, forbade him the house.