Mr. Norris was no stranger to her. She knew him, had always known him, in fact, as her grandmother’s man of affairs, a lawyer of repute. While she had no cause to distrust him, the fact that he was in a position to advise in questions closely affecting herself, affairs she was kept in total ignorance of, gave her a feeling of resentment toward him, as toward one who, voluntarily or not, held an unfair advantage. "See he has a good breakfast," her grandmother had directed. "Let him eat and smoke his fill, but don’t send him up to me with any unsatisfied cravings. A man’s mind is a little less apt to be vacant if his stomach is full." During the succeeding long hours of the forenoon, the two were closeted in Madam Crewe’s sitting-room. Katherine could hear the incessant, low drone of their voices as she sat on the shaded veranda, trying to employ her mind so it would not dwell on the enervating heat and the fact that now, at this moment, her grandmother might be creating conditions that would irrevocably cripple her future and she was powerless to prevent it. At luncheon-time Madam Crewe summoned Eunice Youngs. "While Miss Crewe and the gentleman are at table, I want you to go to Mrs. Slawson’s and tell her I must see her at once. Understand? _Madam Crewe says she must see Mrs. Slawson at once_. Say, she’s to come in that motor-car Mr. Ronald gives her and her husband the use of. Say, Madam Crewe wishes her to take a gentleman to the railroad station in time for the five-forty-five train. Have you brains enough to repeat that straight? Or, shall Miss Katherine write it down for you?" "Oh, grandmother," expostulated Katherine, when Eunice had gone to "tidy up" for her errand, "I don’t think we can order Mrs. Slawson about like that. She’s done a lot for us, already, but we have no claim on her, and to send for her to come, in all this heat, and bring her motor, and take Mr. Norris to the station—it’s exactly as if——" "My dear, don’t bother your head over what doesn’t concern you. Slawson and I understand each other—which is more than you and I do, I’m afraid," the old woman pronounced with biting distinctness. The meal was barely over when Martha arrived. "Now, Slawson," Madam Crewe greeted her, "I’ve sent for you on _business_, so I want you to stop looking benevolent, if you can, and attend to what this gentleman has to say." "Yes’m," said Martha. Mr. Norris adjusted his eye-glasses with professional precision. "Have you ever had any experience with the law, or lawyers?" he asked, regarding her steadfastly through his polished lenses.