So she hadn't known. This meant that skinny eighteen-year-old version of himself who started high-stakes gambling to impress a man he had a crush on was separated from Arthur, through time and distance. But Art still felt that kid - he still felt guilty when he remembered the old house, when he looked at his current (not terrible) bank balance, when he passed a casino.
"My father died when I was a baby," Arthur explained, "So I inherited all of his money when I turned seventeen. I used to be rich, like you."
He sighed and twirled a circle on the side of his glass with his fingertip. "Then I left school, and got involved in gambling. A lot of gambling," he said, "And two years later there was no money left and we lost the houses, and my mother had to become a governess. And I can never undo any of that, or get it back."
Arthur looked from his glass to Miss Scrimgeour. "So that's why I said I was the Ghost of Christmas Future."
"My father died when I was a baby," Arthur explained, "So I inherited all of his money when I turned seventeen. I used to be rich, like you."
He sighed and twirled a circle on the side of his glass with his fingertip. "Then I left school, and got involved in gambling. A lot of gambling," he said, "And two years later there was no money left and we lost the houses, and my mother had to become a governess. And I can never undo any of that, or get it back."
Arthur looked from his glass to Miss Scrimgeour. "So that's why I said I was the Ghost of Christmas Future."