"No?"--with a rising inflection which implied doubt, and Nina blushed painfully. Mrs. Parsons avoided looking at her; instead she inspected the furniture in the parlor and shuddered. "Such taste in decoration," she said calmly. "But then Kitty can change all that with the fortune Miss Susan Baird left to her. What a sensation the news of her wealth has made in Washington! Has no one asked _you_ how Miss Baird acquired it?" Nina's color slowly ebbed away. The eyes she turned on Mrs. Parsons were like some hunted animal. "You--you know?" she stammered. Mrs. Parsons nodded her head. "Confide in me, my dear Nina," she spoke with a world of sympathy in voice and manner. "I know that I can aid you." CHAPTER XIX SUSPICION It was not often that Charles Craige was late in keeping an appointment with Mrs. Parsons. But the pretty widow had occasion to glance repeatedly at her parlor clock with ever increasing annoyance before she heard the butler ushering some one upstairs. She masked her displeasure under a smiling face. "Ah, Charles, what has detained you?" she asked, as he bent low over her hand and kissed it. "Pressing business," he answered. "I am deeply sorry to be late, Cecelia. Judge McMasters simply would not hurry. Has Ben Potter been here?" "Not to-day." Mrs. Parsons' surprise at the question was manifest. "You know he is not one of my favorites. He bored me to death in San Francisco; he is so intense--" she shrugged her shoulders. "I saw his wife this morning." "Indeed?" Craige selected a cigarette from the box on the table and accepted a lighted match. "Silly sentimental little fool," commented Mrs. Parsons. "Just the kind of wife Ben could have been counted on to pick out." "Men usually marry to please themselves." Craige laughed. "Ben telephoned me an hour ago and said that he was coming around to see you--" "What about?" "He did not state." Craige looked at her in surprise, abruptness was not usual with her. "He may come at any moment--" glancing at his watch. It lacked five minutes of the hour. "I stopped at the bank this morning and President Walsh said he would accept your note for two thousand dollars provided you have collateral--" "Certainly." Mrs. Parsons colored deeply. "In fact, I am not sure that I shall need the loan from the bank. I was only temporarily embarrassed until my property in San Francisco is sold. To-day," she paused, "I have arranged another matter satisfactorily. It is kind of you, Charles, very kind, to handle my business for me." "My dearest Cecelia--" Craige laid his hand on hers. "I am happiest when I serve you." Her eyes sparkled with a hint of tears. "I am grateful," she murmured. "You have been so good, so very good since I came to Washington." "Cecelia!" Craige bent forward impulsively, but she drew away from his embrace. "Not now, dear," she protested. "You know you promised--"