"What about the mother?"
"Eddyizing fast."
"What?" The word burst simultaneously from both the men.
"Didn't you know? Yes, it is a malignant case. I only hope it won't go round the family."
"Babies are holy, and therefore immune; Brenton has too much sense. But is it a fact, Olive?" Opdyke questioned.
"It evidently is a fact that you are a poor, shut-in invalid, and not brought up to date in local gossip," Olive told him tranquilly. "I can't see how you have missed hearing of it, Reed, even if it did escape my mind. Yes, it seems to be a fact that everybody is questioning and nobody is disputing. Of course, though, nobody is in a position to testify absolutely."
"Your father?"
"She has dismissed him. At least," and Olive corrected herself with ostentatious care; "she says that her health no longer needs him, although she always shall value him greatly as a well-tried friend."
Opdyke pondered. Then he said,—
"The d—"