"I don't see that you have any right to ask that question," said Edith, quietly. "Still, to show you how candid I am, I will answer it frankly. We quarrelled about a certain Mr. Alder."
"What! John Alder the barrister?"
"Yes," said Miss Wedderburn, rather surprised; "do you know him?"
"Not personally; but I heard about him from Mr. Prain."
"Mr. Prain seems to have been very confidential. However, this gentleman wished to marry me, and Miss Gilmar thought that I ought to accept him, as he was the heir to the Kirkstone estates and also because she intended to leave him her money."
"Without a provision for you?"
"Oh," said Miss Wedderburn, indifferently, "Ellen was not bound to leave me her money, seeing that she had provided me with free board and lodging. But she advised me to marry Mr. Alder, and so make certain of being comfortable for life. But I did not like him, so I refused to become his wife. Now I suppose he will turn me out-of-doors."
"Would he be so cruel?" said Gebb, with a glance at her handsome, haughty face.
"He might, and he might not. He is much liked by his friends, and, I suppose, has as much charity as most people; but whatever he decides, I can't stay on here, now that he is the master. Does he know that his cousin is dead?"
"I can't say. I don't think so; unless, like myself and Prain, he discovered her death through the newspaper descriptions of the Yellow Boudoir."