Mystery of the Inn by the Shore

To bring a woman into focus, by means even of a scandal, has always been a sure way to bring upon her more than her fair share of the admiration of the other sex. When, therefore, the object of public attention is gifted with unusual attractions of person and manner, the havoc she makes in susceptible masculine hearts is proportionately great.

Clifford was not a particularly weak man, and he would have scorned, a week ago, the idea that he could love a woman the more for being under suspicion of theft. But it is incontestable, for all that, that the stronger the suspicious circumstances grew which hedged her round, the stronger also became his own feelings of tender interest.