"Come now; don't you be so stiff, and stand off; it isn't every man who has a beauty, and a real nice girl for a wife. And then there's all the money!" and she nodded her head complacently.
"Money? What money?" he asked.
"Oh, Lord! haven't you heard? Why, she's got tons of it."
Mayne stared at his companion interrogatively.
"Just squeeze me in there, and get me a cup of tea,—two lumps! and then I'll tell you all about it in a jiffy!"
With a teacup in her hand, Mrs. Hicks resumed: "Do you mean to say, that you never heard, that Mr. Fletcher left Fairplains to Nancy?"
"No. Did he really?"
"Yes, and a couple of thousand a year, as well."
After a long pause, he asked, "How long ago?"
"About eighteen months. She was living with an aunt,—a real terror, by all accounts, and having a mighty poor time, and then she came in for this legacy. An old lady who had a fancy for Nancy, took her in hand, and they have been knocking about the Continent for quite a time. Now they are staying at the Hyde Park Hotel. The old lady, who has no family, is just wrapped up in Nancy. She's one of the 'ordering-about sort,' and has a man's nose, and deep voice. Her name is De Wolfe!"