"Very probably. Mr. Edermont knows many people I am unacquainted with. You must remember, Miss Carew, that there is a vast difference between the position of a gentleman and that of a housekeeper."
"Then, Lady Burville has nothing to do with Mr. Edermont's past?"
"So far as I know she has not," replied Mrs. Tice promptly. "I don't know everything, my dear young lady."
"Can you guess the cause of this quarrel?"
"Yes. I told you so before; but I cannot speak of it."
"Do you fancy that Mr. Edermont told Allen this secret you speak of?"
Mrs. Tice made no immediate reply, but smoothed her silken apron with trembling hands. At length she said:
"I do not know. I trust he did not. But if he did speak----"
"Yes, Mrs. Tice," said Dora eagerly, "if he did speak?"
The housekeeper drew a long breath. "If he did speak," she repeated, "you will never--never--never become the wife of Allen Scott."