mothered her! Tears rose in the hard, blue eyes. Subtleties of feeling
Anne Carteret did not know, but some affection for those who are near in
blood and who live under the same roof had been a matter of course to
her, and Molly had hurt her to the quick. However, it was natural that
common-sense and justice should quickly assert themselves to show this
idiotic girl the criminal absurdity of what she said. Mrs. Carteret was
unconsciously hitting back as hard as she could as she answered in a
tone of cheerful common-sense:

"As a matter of fact, the money you will receive will not be your own,
but an allowance from your mother--a large allowance given on the
condition that you do not live with her. Happily, it is so large that
there will not be any necessity for you to live here."

Mrs. Carteret held up the letter of thin foreign paper in a trembling
hand, but she spoke in a perfectly calm voice:

"I was myself always against this mystery as to your mother, but I felt
obliged to act by her wish in the matter. She insists that she still
wishes it to be thought by the world at large that she is dead, but she
agrees at last that you should know something about her. I told her that
I could not allow you to come of age here and have a great deal of money
at your disposal without your knowing that from your father you have
only been left a fortune of two thousand pounds----"

Mrs. Carteret paused, and then, with a little snort, added, half to
herself:

"The rest was all squandered away, and certainly not by his own doing."