"I don't see how you can live in such a mean place," he remarked.
"It is not a matter of choice," returned Mark gravely. "We have to live in a cheap tenement."
By this time the door was opened.
"Mother," said Mark, preceding the two visitors, "here are Uncle Solon and Edgar come to call on you."
Mrs. Mason's pale cheek flushed, partly with mortification at her humble surroundings, for when she first knew Solon Talbot he was only a clerk, as she had said, and she was a society belle.
There was another feeling also. She had a strong suspicion that her brother-in-law had defrauded her of her share in her father's estate.
"I am glad to see you, Mr. Talbot," she said, extending her hand. "And this is Edgar! How you have grown, Edgar."
"Yes, ma'am," responded Edgar stiffly.
Both Mrs. Mason and Mark noticed that he did not call her "aunt." Her nephew's coldness chilled her.
"I am sorry to see you in such a poor place," she said, smiling faintly.