Jo paled, and, as she did so, remembered her father's haggard face as it was lifted to hers the night before in the library.
"Mother, is that what Dad—what all of us—are facing—actual ruin?"
Mrs. Morley hesitated, then turned her steady, kindly gaze upon her daughter.
"I don't see any reason why you should not know the truth, Jo," she said. "In fact, I think it is your right to know. We may lose everything we have in the world, dear."
As she spoke she put her arm about the girl's tense shoulders.
"This house?" asked Jo, in a voice scarcely above a whisper.
Mrs. Morley nodded.
"I'm afraid so, honey."
Jo was silent for so long a time that Mrs. Morley looked at her anxiously.
At last the girl spoke.