“Say what, Tom?”
She thought of what most terrible thing it might be possible that he should have to communicate. Could it be that he had got hold, or that Rubb and Mackenzie had got hold, of all her fortune, and turned it into unprofitable oilcloth? Could they in any way have made her responsible for their engagements? She wished to trust them; she tried to avoid suspicion; but she feared that things were amiss.
“Samuel Rubb and I have been talking of it, and he thinks it had better come from me,” said her brother.
“What had better come?” she asked.
“It is his proposition, Margaret.” Then she knew all about it, and felt great relief. Then she knew all about it, and let him go on till he had spoken his speech.
“God knows how far he may be indulging a false hope, or deceiving himself a
