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Ailsa had no impulse to destroy this strange note and pitch it into the fire with the contempt that it deserved. On the contrary, if she had any inclination at all, it was to go. The emotion was quite illogical, as Ailsa very well knew, but there it was. And the request was made by a man who had given every indication of a scoundrel.
But was he a scoundrel? Common-sense said yes, but that strange instinct which is one of woman's greatest gifts said no. Ailsa had met John Stern under very suspicious circumstances, he had forced his way into the dreary old house like a thief in the night. And yet there was something about the man that rang true. It had occurred to Ailsa that he was suffering for the faults and vices of somebody else.