I think she sees it now.
His father was imprisoned for forgery, and no doubt he was in the know, though it couldn't be brought home to him.

He was ruined, of course, and he disappeared, just dropped out, when the crash came.

He had been on the verge of proposing to her immediately before.

And she would have had him too.

She cared." He sent a cloud of smoke upwards with savage vigour.
"It's damnable to think of her suffering for a worthless brute like that!" he exclaimed.