wouldn't force me to do anything I'd regret, I'm sure." She choked
down her pity at the sight of the invalid's pasty face and flabby
form, then turned to the window. Her emotion prevented her from
observing the relief that greeted her words.

The moment was painful; Lorelei's eyes were dim, and she hardly
saw the dreary prospect of fire-escapes, of whitewashed brick, of
bare, gaping back yards overhung with clothes-lines, like nerves
exposed in the process of dissection.

"Yes, things will go on just the same," she repeated, then
clenched her hands and burst forth miserably, "Oh, I know how
badly you need money! I know what the doctor says, and--I'll get
it somehow. It seems to me I'd pay any price just to see dad
walking around again and to know that you were both provided for.
Money, money! You both worship it, and--I'm getting so I can't
think of anything else. Nothing else seems worth while."

Two hours later a dray called for her trunks and took them across
town.

The Elegancia Apartments looked down on her with chill disapproval
as she entered; the elevator-man stared at her with black, hostile
eyes until she had made herself known; and even the
superintendent--in a less pretentious structure than the
Elegancia, he would have been the janitor--now that "Number Six"
was rented, did not extend even a perfunctory welcome as he
delivered the keys. On the contrary, he made known the exclusive
character of the house in such a pointed manner as to offend her.