'Never mind the money now,' said Agatha, who was never discomposed. 'Come upstairs to bed at once, you are wet through. How could you walk through such a storm! Not another word till you have had something to eat. Come along—you are dead beat.'
She led her away, motioning to Clare and Elfie not to follow, and they stood looking at each other with dazed, bewildered eyes.
'Does she mean it? Is it really true?' exclaimed Elfie, 'Oh, how ill she looks!'
'What a dreadful thing for Walter!' was Clare's response; and then the full force of Gwen's words dawned upon them.
'Whatever shall we do? Agatha's hundred pounds will not keep four of us!'
When Agatha returned to the room, nearly an hour later, she found an anxious consultation going on by the fire. Her face was just as placid as usual, though a shade graver.
'I have left her to sleep,' she said; 'it is the best thing for her. She seems quite worn out, and I think it is best for none of us to go near her till the morning.'
'Is it really true what she says?'
'I am afraid so. I would not let her give me details. She is so filled with remorse at having persuaded you to invest your money so, that I saw she was working herself into a perfect fever over it, and I stopped her at once. I am thankful she is home again. I have been very uneasy about her lately.'
'I never thought you were uneasy about anything,' said Clare, trying to smile.