Suddenly his face changed. A smile came over it, the first really care-free smile that had crossed it in fifty years. The touch of wistfulness had vanished—it was the natural Rollo coming out at last after the long suppression.
“Helga’s birthday falls next week. She will be twenty-five—the age when our girls are told the Dangerfield Secret. What a disappointment for her when she learns that now there is no Secret at all!”
The End
Transcriber’s Notes
This transcription follows the text of the edition published by Little, Brown, and Company in February, 1927. However, the following alterations have been made to correct what are believed to be unambiguous errors in the text:
- “semed” has been changed to “seemed” (Chapter VII);
- “Westerhanger” has been changed to “Westenhanger” (Chapter X);
- “generaations” has been changed to “generations” (Chapter XIV).
All other seeming errors have been allowed to stand. (Note in particular that the name of the jewellery firm has not been regularized, as it is rendered variously as Starbeck, Starbeck’s, and Starbecks, with no clear preference of one use over another.)