"We are forbidden to see him?"
Mr. Harding was startled by her quickness; he bowed his head.
"He was most heavily in debt."
"What have his debts to do with this?" she asked.
Mr. Harding tried to evade her.
"My lord leaves his affairs in chaos; this is hardly the moment to speak of them, and to you, madam——"
She broke in calmly on his agitation.
"I suppose—I think—that he had been raising money on the prospect of a rich marriage, so he would leave nothing, and they could take everything?"
"Everything," repeated Mr. Harding.
"And we are forbidden the house?"