force of her answer, when at last she was able to make it, astonished Milly and her mother. "That's one side of the case, Mrs. Wren," she said in a new tone. "But there's another, you know."
"There is only one side for you, my dear," said the older woman stoutly. "Take your chances while you may—that's my advice. Your luck may turn. You'll not always be what you are now. Suppose you have a bad illness?"
"I'm thinking of his side of the case." The tone verged upon sternness.
"You have quite enough to do to think of your own. Don't throw chances away. I have had forty years' experience of a very hard profession, and even you top sawyers are on very thin ice. And remember, the cards never forgive. Girls who have a lone hand to play, mustn't hold their heads too high. If they do they'll live to regret it. And you mustn't think these swells can't box their own corner. They've nothing to learn in looking after Number One. A girl of your sort is quite equal to any of these drawing-room noodles and Mr. Dinneford knows that better than I do."
"But that's impossible. I can never be as they are."
"You needn't let that worry you. A lot of stuck-up dunces that all the world kow-tows to!"
"It isn't that I think they are nicer or cleverer or wiser than other people. But they are born to certain things, they have been bred to them for generations, and it surely stands to reason that they are better at their own game than a mere outsider can hope to be."
"Fiddle-de-dee!" said Mrs. Wren. "I hope you are not such a goose as to take swelldom at its own valua-
