here again: mr. lorry's inquiries into miss pross's personal history had established the fact that her brother solomon was a heartless scoundrel who had stripped her of everything she possessed, as a stake to speculate with, and had abandoned her in her poverty for evermore, with no touch of compunction. miss pross's fidelity of belief in solomon (deducting a mere trifle for this slight mistake) was quite a serious matter with mr. lorry, and had its weight in his good opinion of her.