Don't you think so?
Of course I couldn't say anything to him without seeming to condemn my own wife; I couldn't say anything to HER because it's her own money." "I didn't know that Mrs.Barker had any money of her own," said Mrs.
Horncastle.
"Well, I gave it to her," said Barker, with sublime simplicity, "and that would make it all the worse for me to speak about it." Mrs.Horncastle was silent.

A new theory flashed upon her which seemed to reconcile all the previous inconsistencies of the situation.

Van Loo, under the guise of a lover, was really possessing himself of Mrs.
Barker's money.

This accounted for the risks he was running in this escapade, which were so incongruous to the rascal's nature.

He was calculating that the scandal of an intrigue would relieve him of the perils of criminal defalcation.