In it were expressed sorrow, indignation, pity, and unswerving loyalty.

Desert them?
Desert the young people, toward whom she had come to feel almost like a mother?
Never! "You may depend on Malcolm and me, my dear," she declared.

"We are not fair-weather friends.

And, after all, it is not so very bad.

Affairs might be very much worse." "Worse! Oh, Mrs.Dunn, how could they be?
Think of it! Stephen and I are dependent upon him for everything.