"Then that is all I can do for you. I will in time forward a bill of particulars. A present I am busy."
At this moment Luella Ferguson entered the room. She recognized Ruth at once.
"You here?" she said in haughty surprise.
"Yes, I came on business."
"We do not want any servants. Papa, this girl was very insolent to me on the train yesterday. I hope you will send her away."
"I am going, Miss Ferguson," said Ruth with spirit. "Your father was the trustee of my poor father's property, and it was to ask about it that I came here. Good evening."
She left the house with faltering steps, for her last hope had been destroyed, and she felt keenly the cruel slight of Luella Ferguson. As she set foot on the sidewalk her brain reeled, and she would have fallen had not a young man who was about to ascend the steps sprung forward and supported her.