"You, of course, are at liberty to please yourself; but, in that case, Mr. Clifford and I must also continue to stand, and that may be inconvenient." Thereupon she subsided on to the chair which he had placed for her, glancing as she did so at the two men in front of her as if she suspected them of having conspired together to compel her to seat herself against her will. Mr. Hooper assumed an air which was almost judicial. "I beg you to believe, Miss Lindsay, that in putting to you the questions I am about to put I am actuated only by considerations of your own interests. If they seem at all impertinent, I assure you that it is in appearance only; as, if you will answer them frankly, you will immediately perceive. To begin with, how many children had your father beside yourself?" It is possible that she looked as surprised as she felt; she could hardly have felt more surprised than she looked. She hesitated; then briefly answered-- "None." "Then--pardon me if I pain you--were you not on good terms with your father when he died?" Her eyes opened wider; it seemed that her amazement grew. "Of course I was; what do you mean? If you had ever known my father you wouldn't have dreamt of asking such a--such a silly question; I don't wish to be rude, but you wouldn't. My father never said an angry word to me in the whole of his life." "But, in that case, to whom did he leave his money?" "To me." "To you?" "He left everything he had in the world to me absolutely; I don't know quite what it means, but I know that's what they said, absolutely." "Then now it's my turn not to understand you. Your father was an immensely wealthy man. If you are his heiress, how is it I have the honour, and happiness, of seeing you here, in receipt of a modest weekly salary?" "Every one thought papa was rich; I did; I understood him to tell me himself that he was; but it seemed, after all, that he wasn't. Indeed, as soon as he was dead, some man said he owed him a great deal of money, for bills." "Bills!" The interruption came from Clifford. "I don't know what kind of bills they were; but I know they were bills of some kind, because I was told so; then they came and sold everything to get money to pay the bills, and I was left with nothing." The two men eyed each other as if the significance of what the girl said surpassed their comprehension. Mr. Clifford continued his interposition. "Miss Lindsay, Mr. Hooper has told you my name; it is Clifford--Frank Clifford. I believe I knew your father for many years, and am indebted to him for many kindnesses. Did he never mention my name to you?" "Clifford? No, I don't remember his ever having done so." "I saw your portrait in his rooms yesterday, and when I saw you this morning I recognized you at once." "His rooms? What rooms?" "His rooms in town." "I didn't know he had any; we couldn't find out that he had an address in town."