“Mrs. Ashton Welles is the only daughter of Mrs. Deering.”
“And—”
“She is twenty-two.”
“And—”
“Her husband is fifty-two. That's all!”
“Is it?”
“So far as I am concerned, it is—really!”
“Is Mr. Ashton Welles your friend?”
“No. But he is no enemy, either.”
“No? But you have a friend, a Mr. Wolfe—a Mr. Francis Wolfe?” She knew it from a newspaper item.