"No, from the newspapers. The situation has been written up for the Sunday supplements. The whole thing is cheap,--oh, horribly cheap, my dear Hugh!"
"But, Rachel,--for heaven's sake, what do you mean? Philip is in love with the girl,--"
"Fancies of that sort soon pass, Hugh."
"You thought it serious enough when you sent me to see her."
"I was frantic for the moment over Philip, and I would have sent you to get the moon for him, if he had cried for it. But it doesn't follow that I would let him have it when he got well."
"Has Philip nothing to say on the subject himself?" he asked coldly.
She smiled enigmatically, and instead of answering at once she asked in turn: "Exactly what did you say to Miss Underwood? How far did you--exercise diplomacy?"
"I didn't exercise any. I told her Philip was dying because she had refused him, and I took advantage of every feeling I could play upon to win the conditional promise from her that I sent on to you."
"What was her condition?"
"That the mystery hanging over the family be cleared, so that she could come to him on equal terms."