"Well, soon after--why, it was the very night you were at our house--after you and Doctor Colfax had gone, we still kept on talking, a-and it came out that Colonel Yancey had never told Carolina that he had children, whereas he has t-two,--the dearest little creatures,--b-but the little one, Gladys, is a hopeless cripple." St. Quentin turned with a start. "Yes, that’s just the way it struck me. Of course you g-get the vista. Carolina instantly investigated her c-case, and she and Mrs. Goddard got it out of the doctors that there was only about one chance in ten of the operation being successful, whereas--well, N-Noel, I am not sentimental, but I thank God I--I am human, and when I s-saw the frightened look in the b-blue eyes of that l-little child--that b-baby--she’s only six--when she found out th-they were going to cut her, I c-could have screamed. As it w-was, I c-called them criminals and b-burst out crying, and I b-begged Carol to c-cable Colonel Yancey for p-permission to try Christian Science." "You did just right," said St. Quentin. "It seems to me that the legitimate and proper place for Christian Science is in a desperate case like that, when doctors agree that they are practically powerless." "I--I think so, too. And especially when time cuts no i-ice,--not like a fever, you know, which must b-be checked at once. Well, Carol cabled, and Colonel Yancey answered in these very words, ’Have no faith, but must respect your intelligence. Do as you think best.’" "By Jove!" "You see? Oh, Noel, it’s s-such a comfort to t-talk to you. Y-you’re so clever. Most men are f-fools. But do you s-see the diabolical flattery of the cablegram? Do you also see that it puts Carolina in the p-place of the c-child’s mother? Oh, when I saw the c-colour come into her face, as she read that cablegram, and that s-sort of d-dewy mother-look she s-sometimes gets in her eyes, I--I could have s-slapped Colonel Yancey’s face for him!" "I know," said Noel, in a low, strained tone which woke Kate from her enthusiasm to a sense of her own folly. Her face flamed. "Well, I’ll be switched!" she said to herself. "If N-Noel took me for a s-sucker, he didn’t half state the case." "Why don’t you go on?" asked St. Quentin. He looked at her flushed face and quivering lips in surprise. "Why, I didn’t think she had it in her to show such feeling!" he said to himself. "I am the m-more afraid," she went on, looking straight before her, "b-because Carol doesn’t care for any other m-man, so she is f-free to fall in l-love with Colonel Yancey, if she wants to. He is only a little over forty, is quite the most fascinating man I ever m-met, and he owns Guildford." If Kate expected St. Quentin to betray any violent emotion on hearing these statements, she was doomed to disappointment. However, she seemed satisfied at Noel’s utter silence. A smile quivered at the corners of her mouth. "Well?" said St. Quentin at last.