In a fortnight he proposed; in a month they were married, and the third step on the road to ruin was taken.
"Had she been a good woman--an earnest and faithful wife--she might have made a new man of him, for he loved her with a passionate devotion that was part of his hot-headed nature.

But she was bad--as depraved as she was fair--and brought his downward course to a tragical climax frightfully soon.
"Before her marriage, this wretched girl had had a lover--discarded for a more handsome and impetuous wooer.

But she had known him longest, and, perhaps, loved him best.

At all events, he resumed his visits after marriage, as if nothing had happened.

The young husband, full of love and confidence, suspected no wrong.