"Then you are still hoping to get the railroad out of Major Guilford's hands?"
"Yes."
"And in that case the price of the stock will go up again?"
"That is just the difficulty. It may be a long time recovering."
"Do you think the sale of my three thousand shares would make any difference?" she asked.
"There is reason to fear that it would make all the difference."
She was silent for a time, and when she spoke again Kent realized that he was coming to know an entirely unsuspected side of Elinor's mother.
"It makes it pretty hard for me," she said slowly. "This little drib of railroad stock is all that my girls have left out of what their father willed them. I want to save it if I can."
"So do I," said David Kent, frankly; "and for the same reason."
Mrs. Brentwood confined herself to a dry "Why?"