It was acknowledged that he was such a one as Robert,--a worldly man all round.

And then he was worse than Robert, having been a spendthrift, a gambler, and, if the rumours which had reached them were true, given to the company of loose women.

She had striven with all her might that such a one should not be allowed to take her daughter from her, and had striven in vain.

He had succeeded;--but his character was not changed by his success.

Did she not know him to be chaff that must be separated by the wind from the corn and then consumed in the fire?
His character was not altered because that human being whom she loved the best in all the world had fallen into his power.