"Why, no."
"I thought that you wouldn't have," returned Lynn, very gravely.
"It won't prevent him from proposing, will it?"
"Not a bit of it. It will only prevent him from marrying—that is, from marrying me."
"Oh, how dreadful!" cried Agatha in genuine distress. "And to think of all the men you have refused, Lynn! and I suppose that there isn't one you could get back at a pinch."
"I fear not. The majority are either dead or married and the Grave and the Other Woman do not disburse."
"No, indeed," sighed her mentor. "And it's so necessary for you to marry, Lynn, for if Uncle Horace died to-morrow he would leave Aunt Lucy everything and there would be nothing left for you. Oh, what a pity that your mother's money was all spent."
"Yes, it seems a little unfortunate."
"That dreadful Italian! What a pity Aunt Clara married him after your father died. And didn't they have a son? What has become of him?"
"My dear Agatha, how should I know?" said Lynn, restlessly. "Don't you remember that, when Uncle Horace adopted me, he did it with the distinct understanding that I was to hold no communication with my mother and my little half-brother?"