He wrote and told me about his marriage, and then, later, when his wife fell ill, he wrote again.

He was extremely good to her, Mark." "D'you know much about Varick's early life ?" he asked.
"I think I know all there is to know," she answered.
What was Mark getting at?
What had Lionel Varick done?
Her mind was already busily intent on the thought of how disagreeable it would be to have to warn him of impending unpleasantness.
It was good of Mark to have taken all this trouble! Of course, he had taken it for her sake, and she felt very grateful--and still a little frightened; he looked so unusually grave.
"What _do_ you know of Varick's early life ?" he persisted.
"I don't think there's very much to know," she answered uneasily.

"His father had a place in Yorkshire, and got involved in some foolish, wild speculations.

In the end the man went bankrupt, everything was sold up, and they were very poor for a while--horribly poor, I believe.

Then the elder Varick died, and his widow and Lionel went and lived at Bedford.