‘You know that you have just come into a fortune——’
‘Oh, mother, don’t say it is for that,’ Mab said, in tones of disgust.
‘No, it’s not exactly for that. But perhaps your cousin thinks that he might help you—to spend it, or take care of it——’
‘Oh!’ said Mab. She did not blush, nor was she excited, but a faint movement swept over her round face which indicated that she knew what his visit meant. And not only did she know what it meant, but it gave her a certain satisfaction as clearing up for her a question which had been very puzzling to her little sober brain.
‘Oh,’ she said again, ‘is that what it means?’
‘No one can speak quite certainly on such a subject,’ said Lady William, ‘but I think that is what it means.’
It was some time before Mab spoke again.
‘Is it then,’ she said, ‘a very large fortune, mother?’
‘It is fifty thousand pounds.’
‘And how much does that mean a year?’