lf, great
man, fresh and beautiful for the new day."

XX

George wondered why Wandel should have come at all, or, having come, why
he should have left in that manner; and he was sorry he had answered as
he had, for Wandel invariably knew a great deal, more than most people.
In this case he had probably come only to help, but in George's brain
nothing could survive for long beyond hazards as to what the morning
might develop. Betty was going to communicate with him, and she would
naturally expect to find him at his office, so he hurried down town and
waited, forcing himself to the necessary details of his work. For the
first time the mechanics of making money seemed dreary and unprofitable.

Goodhue came in with a clearly designed lack of curiosity. Had his
partner all along suspected the truth, or had Wandel been talking? For
that matter, did Goodhue himself experience a sense of loss?

"Not so surprising, George. Dolly's always been after her--even back in
the Princeton days, and she's played around with him since they were
children; yet I was a little shocked. I never thought it would quite
come off."

It was torture for George to listen, and he couldn't possibly talk about
it, so he led Goodhue quite easily to the day's demands; but Blodgett
appeared not long after with a drooping countenance. Why did they all
have to come to him to discuss the unannounced wedding of Sylvia
Planter?

"She ought to have done better," Blodgett disapproved funereally.

He fingered a gaudy handkerchief. He thrust it in his pocket, drew it
forth again, folded it carefully with his pudgy hands.

"Don't think I've ever ceased to regret----" he started rather
pitifully.

After a moment's absorbed scrutiny of George he went on.

"If she had picked somebody like you I wouldn't have minded. Papa
Blodgett would have given you both his blessing."

So they had all guessed something! George questioned uneasily if
Blodgett's suspicions had lived during the course of his own unfortunate
romance, and he was sorrier than ever he had had to help destroy that.
He got rid of Blodgett and refused to see any one else, but he had to
answer the telephone, for that would almost certainly be Betty's means
of communication. Each time the pleasant bell tinkled he seized the
receiver, and each time cut short whatever masculine worries reached
him. The uneven pounding of the ticker punctuated his suspense. It was a
feverish morning in the market, bu