to me that you looked kind; and so--"

"Stop right there, ma'am!" he cried, putting up a warning hand. "'Most
important business,' was what you said in your note, otherwise I
shouldn't have consented to see you. If you have any business, state it,
and I'll say yes or no, as it strikes me. But I'll tell you beforehand
that there isn't a chance in a thousand but what it'll be no."

"I did come because I thought you looked kind," Diane declared,
indignantly, "and if you think it was for any other reason whatever,
you're absolutely mistaken."

"Then we'll let it be. I can't help my looks, nor what you think about
them. The point is that you're here for something; so let's know what it
is."

"You make it very hard for me," Diane said, almost tearfully, "but I'll
try. I must tell you, first of all, that we've lost a great deal of
money."

"That's no new situation."

"It is to me; and it's even more so to my poor mother-in-law. I should
think you must have heard of her at least. She is Mrs. Arthur Eveleth.
Her maiden name was Naomi de Ruyter, of New York."

"Very likely."

"Her husband was related, on his mother's side, to the Van Tromps--the
same family as your own."