"Oh, Gwynne," said Miss Mollie, trembling a good deal, and thrusting her paper at him. "I--we--Eleanor and I don't want you to think that we are unappreciative, or--or that we've any fault to find with the way you've managed our property--you've done everything you could, we _know_ that, Gwynne, and you're always so good to us." Her voice broke, but she went on resolutely. "But I--we don't know whether you've noticed anything lately, or whether any of the others have told you--you're so busy--and we know a woman oughtn't to interfere, or ask questions about her money, Gwynne--and--and we oughtn't to come to your office, we _know_ that--it's no place for a lady--but we're--we're so worried, we couldn't help it. You don't mind our being here, do you? We thought at first we'd write, only it takes so much longer----" here poor Miss Mollie broke down completely and began to cry in a noiseless and unimpeachably ladylike manner into her black-bordered handkerchief. Miss Eleanor took up the thread, having conquered her own tears: "We thought perhaps you didn't know, Gwynne, if Mr. Templeton hadn't told you, but the Pallinders--that is, Colonel Pallinder, you know, they haven't paid us any rent for our house for over a year--it's on the paper, we added it up--I know it's right, because we did it by long division, and then multiplied to make sure--and it's a hundred and twenty dollars they're owing us, Gwynne, and--and we thought you'd do something, if you knew----" "Well, you needn't worry--he _won't_!" said Steven, savagely satirical. Both handkerchiefs were going now; but the two old maids scarcely heard Steven; they regarded Gwynne with a heart-breaking confidence. "Why--yes--I knew about this, Cousin Eleanor," the young man began, with a wretched feeling of humbug. "The only thing about commencing proceedings to recover--bringing suit, you know--is the--the publicity--you might have to appear in court and testify--and it would all be in the papers, like a--a scandal----" "Oh, scandal--bosh!" cried Steven wrathfully. Eleanor and Mollie were looking at Gwynne with affrighted eyes over their handkerchiefs; but Steven's masculine mind, even if none of the strongest, could not in nature be always wrought upon so easily. These arguments were old to him and their effect was dulled. "Scandal! There's no scandal about going to law to get your money!" he said impatiently, and with justice. "And as for publicity, you could fix all that, if you wanted to, Gwynne, you know it. They could--they could make oath before a notary, couldn't they?" "We--we wouldn't have to do anything, if he could just get us a _little_ of it--the--the way Mr. Lewis said, you know, Mollie," Eleanor faltered. "Arch? Did you tell him about this?" Gwynne asked, disturbed.