The collapsed Mrs. De Peyster heard Matilda enter, pause, then pass into the bedroom, but did not look up; nor a moment later when Olivetta reëntered from the bedroom, did she at first raise her dejected head.
"Why, what's the matter, Cousin Caroline?" cried Olivetta.
There was no occasion for maintaining an appearance before Olivetta, who was almost as faithful and devoted as though a very member of her body. So Mrs. De Peyster related her misfortune, interrupted by frequent interjections from her sympathetic cousin.
"Do you realize what it means, Olivetta?" she concluded in a benumbed voice. "It means that, except for less than a thousand which I have on hand,—a mere nothing,—I am penniless until more dividends are due—perhaps months! I cannot go to Europe! I cannot go to Newport!"
Olivetta was first stunned, then was ejaculative with consternation.
"But, Caroline," she cried after a moment, "why not have Judge Harvey get you the money?"
"Out of the question, Olivetta; I do not care to explain." She would never unbend to Judge Harvey! Never!
"Then, why not borrow the money from the bank, as you say Judge Harvey suggested?"
"Olivetta, you should know that that is against my principles." She tried to instill proud rebuke into her voice. But just here was the pinch—or one of them. To cover the excess in her expenses she had already borrowed—secretly, for she would never have had it come to Judge Harvey's knowledge—from her bank to the very limit of her personal credit.