"
"Oh," said Mr. Quest. "Well, if the old gentleman dies, your friend
will be one of the wealthiest men in England."
"Well, so much the better for him. I am sure money is a great
blessing. It protects one from so much."
"Yes," said Mr. Quest with emphasis, "so much the better for him, and
all connected with him. Why have you been crying? Because Cossey has
gone away--or have you quarrelled with him?"
"How do you know that I have been crying? If I have, it's my affair.
At any rate my tears are my own."
"Certainly, they are--I do not wish to interfere with your crying--cry
when you like. It will be lucky for Cossey if that old father of his
dies just now, because he wants money."
"What does he want money for?"
"Because he has undertaken to pay off the mortgages on the Castle
estates."
"Why has he done that, as an investment?"
"No, it is a rotten investment. I believe that he has done it because
he is in love with Miss de la Molle, and is naturally anxious to
ingratiate himself with her. Don't you know that? I thought perhaps
that was what you had been crying about?"
"It is not true," she answered, her lips quivering with pain.
Mr. Quest laughed gently. "I think you must have lost your power of
observation, which used to be sufficiently keen.
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