"I am sure that I don't know, but I have heard that he was very fond of her, and that he walks to and from school with her almost every day."
"Really! and hasn't he anything else to do?"
"I don't know, I'm sure. Of course you know that there are mysterious, disagreeable stories about him, and that for a minister's son he is—er—well—"
"I understand perfectly."
"'There's a skeleton—' you know the saying, and—" Just then the gossipers heard the rustle of skirts in the hall above, followed by the sound of a door being closed. They looked at each other in dismay.
"Do you suppose?" gasped Mrs. Darling, in alarm.
"I'll find out," replied Mrs. Thornton, as she went to the parlour door and beckoned to Fanny Tweedie.
"What do you want?" asked Fanny, as she came into the hall.
"Sh! Is—er—Miss Wallace at home?" whispered Mrs. Darling.