An introduction to her, obtained in the customary manner, informed him that she was the daughter of one Mr.Blake.
The rest he discovered from herself.

They were partners in the dance (unobserved in that crowded ball-room) all through the evening.
"Circumstances were against her from the first.

She was unhappy at home.
Her family and friends occupied no recognized station in life: they were mean, underhand people, in every way unworthy of her.

It was her first ball--it was the first time she had ever met with a man who had the breeding, the manners and the conversation of a gentleman.

Are these excuses for her, which I have no right to make?
If we have any human feeling for human weakness, surely not! "The meeting of that night decided their future.