"I fear, dear, we shall have to go on waiting," I said. "I must try and get another berth, but whether or not I shall be able to do so Heaven only knows."
"Dick, dear," she said, slipping her arm through mine as she spoke, "I cannot keep the secret from you any longer. I ought to have told you before."
"And what is this wonderful secret?" I inquired.
"I doubt whether I look it, Dick, but I am a very rich woman."
"A rich woman!" I cried incredulously. "What do you mean by that?"
For the moment I thought she was joking, but one glance at her face showed me that she was serious.
"I mean what I say," she answered. "I am a very rich woman. When poor old Mr. Winzor died he left me all his fortune—nearly forty thousand pounds."
I could scarcely contain my astonishment.
"Was it not good of him?" she continued. "Forty thousand pounds at three per cent. is twelve hundred pounds a year, is it not?"
Even then I was too much surprised by her information to be able to realize the change that had taken place in Molly's position.