'It was necessary,' she said, with a smile. 'You may as well know it; papa lost money.'
'How?'
'He invested the money from the sale of the place at Seaforth in some stocks that gave out somehow. He lost it all. So then we had nothing but the stipend from England; and I think papa somehow lost part of that, or was obliged to take part of it to meet obligations.'
'And you?'
'We did very well,' said Esther, with another smile. 'We are doing very well now. We are out of debt, and that is everything. And I think papa is pretty comfortable.'
'And Esther?'
'Esther is happy.'
'But—I should think—forgive me!—that this bit of a house would hardly hold you.'
'See how mistaken you are! We have two rooms unused.'
Pitt's eye roved somewhat restlessly over the one in which they were, as he remarked,—