"I've tried once or twice to tell him--" continued Claire. "Tell who? Tell Mr. Van Brandt?" "No, Mr. Ronald." "O! You see, when you speak o' _he_ an' _him_ it might mean almost any gen'l'man. But I'll try to remember you're always referrin' to Mr. Ronald." "I've tried once or twice to tell him, for I can't bear to be untruthful. But, then, I remember I'm 'only the governess'--'the right person in the right place'--of so little account that--that he doesn't even know whether I'm pretty or not! And the words choke in my throat. I realize it wouldn't mean anything to him. He'd only probably gaze down at me, or he'd be kind in that lofty way he has--and put me in my place, as he did the first time I ever saw him. And so, I've never told him. I couldn't. But sometimes I think if I did--if I just _made_ myself do it, I could hold up my head again and not feel myself growing bitter and sharp, because something is hurting me in my conscience." "That's it!" said Martha confidently. "It's your conscience. Believe _me_, consciences is the dickens an' all for makin' a mess o' things, when they get right down to business. Now, if I was you, I wouldn't bother Mr. Ronald with my squalms o' conscience. Very prob'ly when it comes to consciences he has troubles of his own--at least, if he ain't, he's an exception an' a rare curiosity, an' Mr. Pierpont Morgan oughter buy him for the Museum. When your conscience tells you you'd oughter tell, ten to one you'd oughtn't. Give other folks a chance. What they don't know can't worry 'em. Besides, your just _tellin_' a thing don't let you out. You can't get clear so easy as that. It's up to you to work it out, so what's wrong is made _right_, an' do it _yourself_--not trust to nobody else. You can't square up by heavin' your load offn your own shoulders onto another fella's. You think you feel light coz you done your dooty, when ten to one you _done_ your friend. No! I wouldn't advise turnin' state's everdence on yourself unless it was to save another from the gallus. As it is, you can take it from me, the best thing you can do for that--conscience o' yours, is get busy in another direction. Dress yourself up as fetchin' as you can, go out motorin' with your gen'l'man friend like he ast you to, let him get his perposal offn his chest, an' then tell'm--you'll be a sister to'm." CHAPTER XV Sam Slawson had gone to the Adirondacks in January, personally conducted by Mr. Blennerhasset, Mr. Ronald's secretary, Mr. Ronald, in the most unemotional and business-like manner, having assumed all the responsibilities connected with the trip and Sam's stay at the Sanatorium. It was Claire who told Mr. Ronald of the Slawsons' difficulty. How Martha saw no way out, and still was struggling gallantly on, trying single-handed to meet all obligations at home and, in addition, send her husband away. "That's too much--even for Martha," he observed.