"I have no means of knowing what he has done," she said slowly. "But I know the man. He has turned back."
There was a tap at the door and a servant was come to say that Mr. Brookes Ormsby was waiting with his auto-car. Was Miss Brentwood nearly ready?
Elinor said, "In a minute," and when the door closed, she made a confidante of her mother for the first time since her childhood days.
"I know what you have suspected ever since that summer in New Hampshire, and it is true," she confessed. "I do love him—as much as I dare to without knowing whether he cares for me. Must I—may I—say yes to Brookes Ormsby without telling him the whole truth?"
"Oh, my dear! You couldn't do that!" was the quick reply.
"You mean that I am not strong enough? But I am; and Mr. Ormsby is manly enough and generous enough to meet me half-way. Is there any other honest thing to do, mother?"
Mrs. Hepzibah shook her head deliberately and determinedly, though she knew she was shaking the Ormsby millions into the abyss of the unattainable.
"No; it is his just due. But I can't help being sorry for him, Ellie. What will you do if he says it doesn't make any difference?"
The blue-gray eyes were downcast.
"I don't know. Having asked so much, and accepted so much from him—it shall be as he says, mother."