Miss Prince hesitated. This morning, at early celebration, she had resolved that she would make a real effort to cure herself of what she knew in her heart was her one outstanding fault—to herself she called it, quite rightly, sin—that of retailing malicious tittle-tattle. But somehow she felt strongly tempted to say just one word, and, as so often happens with those cursed with her peculiar temperament, she was half persuaded that in saying what she now determined to say she would be doing the right thing.

“Of course you know that Jean Bower, Mrs. Maclean’s niece, has become secretary to the Etna China Company?”

“No, I didn’t know it.” Agatha Cheale was more surprised than she chose to show.

“How very odd of them not to have told you! I mean, how odd of Harry, and how odd of Dr. Maclean. Why, she’s been at the Etna factory for quite a month.”

“I thought the girl was well off.”

“When her father died it was found that he had only left fifteen hundred pounds. And though the Macleans have practically adopted her, she seems to have said she would much prefer to do some work than to be just idle; so Mrs. Maclean, hearing that a secretary was wanted at the Etna factory, managed to catch Harry Garlett at the office one day and asked if he would give Jean a trial. Of course he had to say ‘yes.’”

“I suppose he had,” said Agatha Cheale slowly.

Jean Bower’s attractive, youthful personality had been impressed on her in the cricket pavilion during the great Australian match. She had envied the girl, not only her bright artless charm of manner, but also the warm affection the doctor and his wife had shown her.

“I hear old Dodson is quite bewitched by her, and that even Harry himself is at the factory a great deal more than he used to be,” went on Miss Prince.

“That isn’t true about Cousin Harry.”

Agatha Cheale forced herself to smile, but in her heart she knew that Harry Garlett had gone to the factory oftener 27this last month than he had ever done since she first came to Terriford. As for old Dodson, he was just the kind of foolish old bachelor to be bewitched by a young girl. After being head clerk for a number of years, he had been made a partner, and now practically ran the prosperous business.

27

Miss 

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