“Naturally I shall take care that any newspaper investigation will not be able to go back of the story I shall prepare very carefully, and if there is any hint of scandal at all, it will inevitably reflect on me and not on your mother, as I have already pointed out. After your adoption and your graduation from the finishing school, you will, of course, take your place in our home as our daughter, will make your debut in society that fall, and, I hope, be very happy with us and in your new life.” Sally sat very still, her eyes wide and blank, while her bewildered, unhappy mind tried to picture the future which Courtney Barr was outlining for her. At last she shook her head, as if to clear away the mists of doubt and bewilderment. Her mother had taken Sally’s little lax, cold hands and was cuddling them against her cheeks, bringing a fingertip to her lips occasionally. “Poor baby! And—poor mother!” Enid whispered brokenly, and the spell was broken. The hard lump of unhappiness and resentment that had been aching in Sally’s throat since Courtney Barr had begun to speak melted in tears. They wept in each other’s arms, while Enid’s husband walked impatiently up and down the room. When the storm had spent itself, Sally remembered David again, and pain and fear contracted her heart sharply. “Did you see David, Mr. Barr?” She sat up and dabbed at her wet cheeks with one of the exquisite sheer linen handkerchiefs which Enid had given her. “Oh, yes, yes!” Barr answered quickly. “I managed his affairs very neatly. Rand, the district attorney, personally attended to the quashing of the charges against him, and it cost only a thousand dollars to get Carson to issue a statement to the press that he had really seen nothing compromising between young Nash and yourself. He also admitted that the boy’s anger had been in a measure justified, that the assault had been provoked by his own mistaken charges against you and Nash. The boy’s reputation is cleared now and he can go back to college this fall. I also saw his grandfather and persuaded him that the boy had been a hero rather than a blackguard. Young Nash is at home on his grandfather’s farm again, so that incident is successfully closed.” Gratitude brought Sally to her feet. “Thank you, Mr. Barr! You’ve been wonderful! It won’t be so hard for me to be away at school if I know that David is in school, too. I wrote him tonight, but I’ll tear it up and write a new letter, telling him all about everything and how happy I am that he’s free of those awful charges—” “No, Sally,” Barr interrupted, frowning. “Your mother and I are agreed that you must not write to young Nash, that there must be no thought of an engagement—” “Not write to David?” Sally, echoed blankly. “I love David, Mr. Barr, and I always will. It’s not fair to ask me to promise not to write to him.”