"Yes. At least——"
"What?"
"It would have had to go, only——"
"Only for what?" In her keen anxiety Clodagh stooped forward and laid her hand on her aunt's shoulder. "Only for what, Aunt Fan?"
Shaken and unnerved at the interrogation, Mrs. Asshlin sat up with a start.
"Why do you do that, Clodagh?" she cried—"why do you do that? You gave me a palpitation of the heart."
But Clodagh's eyes still burned with inquiry.
"Why won't the place have to go?" she demanded. "How will the debts be paid?"
Mrs. Asshlin freed herself nervously from her niece's hand.
"Mr. Milbanke will pay them," she said impulsively; then instantly she checked herself. "Oh! what have I said?" she exclaimed. "Don't pretend that I told you, Clodagh. He is so particular that you shouldn't know."