"You're getting morbid, Mary Louise. I think I must forbid you to read any more of my romances," said Irene lightly, but at heart she questioned the folks at Bigbee's as seriously as her friend did.
"Don't you think Agatha Lord stole that missing book?" asked Mary
Louise, after a little reflection.
"Why should she?" Irene was disturbed by the question but was resolved not to show it.
"To get the letter that was in it—the letter you would not let me read."
"What are your affairs to Agatha Lord?"
"I wish I knew," said Mary Louise, musingly. "Irene, I've an idea she came to Bigbee's just to be near us. There's something stealthy and underhanded about our neighbors, I'm positive. Miss Lord is a very delightful woman, on the surface, but—"
Irene laughed softly, as if amused.
"There can be no reason in the world, Mary Louise," she averred, "why your private affairs are of any interest to outsiders, except—"
"Well, Irene?"
"Except that you are connected, in a way, with your grandfather."