"I am rather glad it is coming," she said. "I shall know what to do with that hateful money she forced me to take back."
"What do you mean, mother?"
Mrs. Tresslyn lifted her lorgnon. "Have you forgotten, my dear?"
"Of course I haven't. But what do you mean?"
"It is perfectly simple, Anne. I mean that as soon as this baby comes I shall settle the whole of that thirty thousand dollars upon it, and have it off my mind forever. Heaven knows it has plagued me to—"
"You—but, mother, can you afford to do anything so—"
"My dear, it may interest you to know that your mother possesses a great deal of that abomination known as pride. I have not spent so much as a penny of Lutie Car—of my daughter-in-law's money. You look surprised. Have you been thinking so ill of me as that? Did you believe that I—"
Anne threw her arms about her mother's neck, and kissed her rapturously.
"I see you did believe it of me," said Mrs. Tresslyn drily. Then she kissed her daughter in return. "I haven't been able to look my daughter-in-law in the face since she virtually threw all that money back into mine. I've been almost distracted trying to think of a way to force it back upon her, so that I might be at peace with myself. This baby will open the way. It will simplify everything. It shall be worth thirty thousand dollars in its own right the day it is born."
Anne was beaming. "And on that same day, mother dear, I will replace the amount that you turn over to—"