"Then there is something the matter with her?"
"Of course there is. Why, look at her," he rejoined roughly. "She nearly fainted under your very noses out of sheer misery to-night, and not one of you saw the reason."
She stared at him, her lips moving faintly, and at last she said:
"What was the reason?"
"Wick, young Wick. She is madly in love with him, and he is worth it."
A worldlier woman or a less wise one might have suspected that Barclay was using young Wick as a means to help him out of an irksome engagement, but Mrs. Walbridge knew.
"So I was right," she murmured thoughtfully. "I had begun to think I was wrong." Then she started, clenching the arms of her chair hard.
"Oh, dear," she cried, "what about Miss Perkins?"
He laughed. "That's the question; what about Miss Perkins? There is something about her; some mystery, I mean. But never mind that now. The point is this. Grisel has practically refused to break off her engagement with me, so I shall just have to screw up my courage and break mine with her. A nasty job."
"You must not mention Oliver to her. It would not be fair, because of Miss Perkins."