The suggestion from Vi startled her, and it troubled her too, for the very reason that the same idea had been in her own mind.
And suddenly Laura spoke up in support of Vi.
“I shouldn’t wonder if Vi is right,” she said. “Amanda is mean enough for anything.”
Billie had no answer for that, and so she said nothing. But she was more than ever troubled.
As they neared the little white cottage that had seen so much trouble, they forgot Amanda in anticipation of Polly Haddon’s joy at the good news they were bringing her.
They knocked on the door, and the moment it was opened pushed eagerly inside and turned to face the astonished widow.
Billie started to speak, but Laura, with her usual impulsiveness, was before her.
“We’ve got good news, Mrs. Haddon,” she blurted out. “We’ve found your lost invention.”
Billie gasped with dismay as Mrs. Haddon turned deathly white and grasped the back of a chair for support.
“Oh, Laura, you shouldn’t!” cried Billie, as she put an arm about the woman and helped her into a chair. “Get some water, quick! There’s a glass in the sink.”