"I know it," said Hughie.
"Well, look here," said Leroy, "can't you give us some sort of explanation—some yarn we could put about the place to account for this state of things—"
"What state of things?" said Hughie doggedly. He was in an unpleasant temper.
"Well, Hughie," said Mrs. Leroy, keeping hers, "here is Joan, known to have been left a lot of money for her immediate use,—she admits it herself,—living quite humbly and cheaply, and obviously not well off. People are asking why. There are two explanations given. One, the more popular, is that you have embezzled or speculated the money all away. The other, which prevails among the élite—"
"The people who are really in the know, you know," explained Leroy.
"Yes: they say," continued his wife, "that Joan won't marry you, so you have retaliated by—by—"
"By cutting off supplies," suggested Hughie.
"Yes, until—"
"Until she is starved into submission—eh?"
"That's about the size of it, old son," said Leroy.