“Aunt Nannie,” interrupted Sylvia, “it will do no good to drag Uncle Basil into this matter. I fear you will have to face the fact that from this time on your authority in our family is to be diminished. You had more to do than any other person with driving me into the marriage that has wrecked my life, and now you want to go on and do the same thing for my sister and for your own daughters--to marry them with no thought of anything save the social position of the man. And in the same way you are saving up your sons to find rich girls. You know that you kept Clive from marrying a poor girl in this town a couple of years ago--and meantime it seems to be nothing to you that he’s going with men like Roger Peyton and Tom Aldrich, learning all the vices the women in the brothels have to teach him----” Poor “Miss Margaret” had several times made futile efforts to check her daughter’s outburst. Now she and Aunt Varina started up at the same time. “Sylvia! Sylvia! You must not talk like that to your aunt!” And Sylvia turned and gazed at them with her sad eyes. “From now on,” she said, “that is the way I am going to talk. You are a lot of ignorant children. I was one too, but now I know. And I say to you: Look at Elaine! Look at my little one, and see what the worship of Mammon has done to one of the daughters of your family!” 18. After this, Sylvia had her people reduced to a state of terror. She was an avenging angel, sent by the Lord to punish them for their sins. How could one rebuke the unconventionality of an avenging angel? On the other hand, of course, one could not help being in agony, and letting the angel see it in one’s face. Outside, there were the tongues of gossip clattering, as Aunt Nannie had said; quite literally everyone in Castleman County was talking about the blindness of Mrs. Douglas van Tuiver’s baby, and how, because of it, the mother was setting out on a campaign to destroy the modesty of the State. The excitement, the curiosity, the obscene delight of the world came rolling back into Castleman Hall in great waves, that picked up the unfortunate inmates and buffeted them about. Family consultations were restricted, because it was impossible for the ladies of the family to talk to the gentlemen about these horrible things; but the ladies talked to the ladies, and the gentlemen talked to the gentlemen, and each came separately to Sylvia with their distress. Poor, helpless “Miss Margaret” would come wringing her hands, and looking as if she had buried all her children. “Sylvia! Sylvia! Do you realise that you are being DISCUSSED?” That was the worst calamity that could befal a woman in Castleman County--it summed up all possible calamities that could befal her--to be “discussed.” “They were discussing you once when you wanted to marry Frank Shirley! And now--oh, now they will never stop discussing you!”