Her reticence arose from two causes. One, her natural wish not to bruit her private affairs abroad, and the other that Mrs. Goddard had enjoined strict silence on her. "Nothing can be lost in Truth," Mrs. Goddard had said, "nor are the channels of God's affluence ever clogged, but mortal mind makes laws which we are obliged to overcome. Therefore, the fewer people who know about it, the easier our work will be."
However, something in Mr. Howard's manner led Carolina to suspect that he was not seeking to be informed out of idle curiosity, and her heart gave a bound at the thought that perhaps Divine Love might be using him as a channel.
Noticing her momentary hesitation, he said:
"You need not fear to confide in me, Carol. Perhaps I can be of some help to you."
Again she hesitated. She knew that the Howard family knew of Colonel Yancey's attentions to her. Still she felt that she must venture.
"The present owner of Guildford is Colonel Yancey," she said, in a low voice.
"Colonel Yancey!"
"Colonel Yancey!"
"Colonel Yancey!"
And so occupied was each listener with his own thoughts and mental processes that each regarded that exclamation as an original remark.