CHAPTER XI. MR. BEAUMONT MAKES A DISCOVERY.
When one is playing in the game of life
'Tis wrong to throw away a single card,
Lest by some odd mistake of circumstance
The card despised--if played with dext'rous hand--
Should gain an unexpected victory.
When Basil Beaumont came to think over things, it struck him as somewhat strange that Patience should have voluntarily told him a secret, for the concealment of which she had several excellent reasons. Firstly, she must have had a great struggle with her pride before bringing herself to address the man to whom she owed her ruin. Secondly, on informing Beaumont that Reginald was his son, she must have known there were great chances of him revealing the whole story to the young fellow out of sheer devilry; and thirdly, knowing that Reginal
