Being malicious, she was a coward; and it was cowardice which brought about a revulsion of feeling toward the employer she betrayed. In the processes of reaction, she felt almost tenderly toward the victim of her spite. Nevertheless, the finding of the letter had given Greta an idea. There might be other documents equally valuable, remembering that the day was near at hand when her sole legitimate source of income would perish in the inevitable liquidation of _Mayfair Gossip_. It was all very well for Anita to sneer and rail at the paper, but it had been a very good friend of hers. There were two prominent announcements printed week after week in the pages of this scurrilous little organ; the first of these was called “Stories of Real Life,” and it was announced that for the sender of the best material from which such a story could be constructed there was a weekly reward of twenty-five pounds. Stress was laid upon one point, that the material must be authentic, that it must be spicy, and that it must be remarkable. The second announcement was to the effect that contributors who were in a position to secure social items of interest would be well paid. These two appeals produced a voluminous correspondence, the majority of which was valueless for their purpose; but sometimes an aggrieved servant would reveal matters that were even outside the cognizance of her employer. The maid who found a bundle of old love letters in a secret drawer of her master’s desk was very well rewarded indeed. Those letters went on to Anita, who found an excellent use for them. Officially, Greta knew nothing of these matters. Officially, she was sending on these letters because they had a piquant interest for her employer. She was never asked to do anything that a lady could not do, or even that Greta could not do. She made a very good use of the smaller and less important items that reached the office, for Greta was an efficient, if one-sided, journalist. She had one formula which she followed in every case. Dear Anita: The inclosed letters are not, I am afraid, of much use to the paper. We shall be prosecuted for libel if we dare use one tenth of what is in them. They may, however, interest you. The letter never varied; it had become almost a stereotype. She contributed special articles to _Gossip_ and because of a sojourn of fourteen days in the United States had become an authority upon the Four Hundred, could talk glibly and inaccurately of the leaders of society, and occasionally would introduce a Long Island colour to her paragraphs. She could write fairly well, had a mordant wit of her own, and in happier circumstances might have become a great journalist. Instead of which she had developed insensibly into a cringing sycophant, dependent upon a wage that was paid in all the circumstances of charity.