"I told you--always have told you--that he was an early friend of mine, a man of business, who, with your mother, died young, and I, as their friend, became guardian to you and Dick.

Is--is there anything much more that I could tell ?" "There's something I should very much like to know--personally," she answered, after a pause which lasted so long that Ransford began to feel uncomfortable under it.

"Don't be angry--or hurt--if I tell you plainly what it is.

I'm quite sure it's never even occurred to Dick--but I'm three years ahead of him.

It's this--have we been dependent on you ?" Ransford's face flushed and he turned deliberately to the window, and for a moment stood staring out on his garden and the glimpses of the Cathedral.