MRS. LYNGE. And that was _why_ he ran away to America? MRS. HOLT. He had to make himself scarce, I can assure you. MRS. RUMMEL. For afterwards something else was found out, almost as bad. Only think, he had been making free with the cash-box—— MRS. HOLT. But, after all, no one knows exactly about that, Mrs. Rummel; it may have been mere gossip. MRS. RUMMEL. Well, I really must say——! Wasn’t it known over the whole town? For that matter, wasn’t old Mrs. Bernick on the point of going bankrupt? Rummel himself has told me that. But heaven forbid _I_ should say anything! MRS. HOLT. Well, the money didn’t go to Madam Dorf, at any rate, for she—— MRS. LYNGE. Yes, what became of Dina’s parents? MRS. RUMMEL. Oh, Dorf deserted both wife and child. But Madam was impudent enough to remain here a whole year. She didn’t dare to show herself in the theatre again; but she made a living by washing and sewing—— MRS. HOLT. And she tried to set up a dancing-school. MRS. RUMMEL. Of course it was a failure. What parents could trust their children with such a person? But she could not hold out long; the fine Madam wasn’t accustomed to work, you see; some chest trouble set in, and carried her off. MRS. LYNGE. What a wretched story! MRS. RUMMEL. Yes, you may believe it has been a terrible thing for the Bernicks. It is the dark spot on the sun of their happiness, as Rummel once expressed it. So you must never talk of these things in _this_ house again, Mrs. Lynge. MRS. HOLT. And, for heaven’s sake, don’t mention the step-sister either. MRS. LYNGE. Yes, by-the-bye, Mrs. Bernick has a step-sister too? MRS. RUMMEL. Used to have—fortunately; for now they don’t recognise the relationship. Yes, she was a strange being! Would you believe it, she cut her hair short, and went about in rainy weather with men’s shoes on! MRS. HOLT. And when her step-brother—the ne’er-do-well—had run away, and the whole town was of course crying out against him—what do you think she did? Why, she followed him. MRS. RUMMEL. Yes, but think of the scandal before she left, Mrs. Holt! MRS. HOLT. Hush—don’t talk about it. MRS. LYNGE. What, was there a scandal about her too? MRS. RUMMEL.