Somehow William had the odd sense of being bodiless as he ascended the stairs. As he approached his wife's room he saw the handle of her door move, and then he knew that she was standing waiting for him just inside the room. They faced each other in the deflected flare of the street lamp. She reached out and took his hands and clung to them. "I've been listening. I expected a scene, a commotion, but I heard nothing of the sort," she whispered. "It must have simply stunned him. The blow was too deep even to stir his fury." William pressed her hands convulsively, appealingly. He put an arm around her, a shaking, half-palsied arm. "Lessie," he panted, raspingly. "I found out down there--Wait, wait! Give me time." He cleared his throat. "I found out--It was like this, darling. You know how rapidly he talks at times? Well, he wouldn't give me a chance to break in; and finally he told me something that made me--forced me to feel that if you had been there--I mean--" "What? Go on! Go on!" Celeste breathed quickly. "He was in a jolly mood. He spoke more freely than ever before. He let out the fact that he is worth several millions and that he intends to leave it all to us--_I mean to you and Ruth_. He has no idea of donating anything to charity, but all to you two. So you see--you see, it put me where I simply had to--to lay it before you. It strikes me as a reasonable idea that with all that money at your disposal you could--why, Lessie, you could make Charlie rich, and surely you cannot stand between our child and all that good fortune. Don't you see, dear? The truth would so infuriate uncle that he would--would drop us all--you, me, Ruth, Charlie--everybody! Old men are like that; they can't seem to recuperate after such a blow. I didn't tell him. I confess I didn't even mention it, for it was my duty to--to show you how matters stand. I'd not be a natural husband and father if--if I had acted otherwise. We have got in this awful mess. How are we going to get out? Remember, dear, I was trying to earn money for you and the baby when it happened, so how can I bear to--to think of going to jail and leaving you penniless? He would be mad enough to send me to jail, dear; he is just that vindictive, and he would not take care of you two, either. You don't seem to realize that it would make him the laughing-stock of the public, and he so sensitive and hot-tempered. You see, I have forced him to be my active accomplice in covering it all up, and he would have to remain silent or turn me over to the authorities. Oh, it is awful--awful! He puts such a high and unjust value on me that when he finds he has been fooled he will--why, he won't know how to control himself! It would be like him to leave the house to-night--this very night--and go to a hotel, where he would chatter even to the bell-boys. Think of Ruth--if not of me; have pity on that sweet, inoffensive child." "Oh, but Charlie! Charlie!" Celeste found voice to say.