"Yes; but not to-day, not to-morrow. Not at all for the present. You must wait a great many months."
"I will wait as long as you please."
"And you must n't say a word to me of the kind you said last night."
"Is that your condition?"
"Oh, no; my condition is a very different matter, and very difficult. It will probably spoil everything."
"Please, then, let me hear it at once."
"It is very hard for me to mention it; you must give me time." I turned back to my little easel and began to daub again; but I think my hand trembled, for my heart was beating fast. There was a silence of many moments; I could n't make up my mind to speak.
"How in the world has she lost her money?" Mr. Frank asked, abruptly, as if the question had just come into his mind. "Has n't my brother the charge of her affairs?"
"Mr. Caliph is her trustee. I can't tell you how the losses have occurred."
He got up quickly. "Do you mean that they have occurred through him?"
I looked up at him, and there was something in his face which made me leave my work and rise also. "I will tell you my condition now," I said. "It is that you should ask no questions—not one!" This was not what I had had in my mind; but I had not courage for more, and this had to serve.
