already?" "What do you mean, Jane?" asked Florence, startled. "There was a poor young woman called here last month and inquired for Mr. Curtis. She was very sorrowful-like, and poorly dressed. He came up when she was at the door, and he spoke harshlike, and told her to walk away with him. What they said I couldn't hear, but I've a suspicion that she was married to him, secretlike for I saw a wedding ring upon her finger." "But, Jane, it would be base and infamous for him to ask for my hand when he was already married." "I can't help it, miss. That's just what he wouldn't mind doin'. Oh, he's a sly deceiver, Mr. Curtis. I'd like to see him foolin' around me." Jane nodded her head with emphasis, as if to intimate the kind of reception Curtis Waring would get if he attempted to trifle with her virgin affections. "I hope what you suspect is not true," said Florence, gravely. "I do not like or respect Curtis, but I don't like to think he would be so base as that. If you ever see this young woman again, try to find out where she lives. I would like to make her acquaintance, and be a friend to her if she needs one." "Shure, Miss Florence, you will be needin' a friend yourself." "It is true, Jane. I forgot that I am no longer a young lady of fortune, but a penniless girl, obliged to work for a living." "What would your uncle say if he knew that Mr. Curtis had a wife?" "We don't know that he has one, and till we do, it would not be honorable to intimate such a thing to Uncle John." "Shure, he wouldn't be particular. It's all his fault that you're obliged to leave home, and go into the streets. Why couldn't he take no for an answer, and marry somebody else, if he can find anybody to have him?" "I wish, indeed, that he had fixed his affections elsewhere," responded Florence, with a sigh. "Shure, he's twice as old as you, Miss Florence, anyway." "I shouldn't mind that so much, if that was the only objection." "It'll be a great deal better marryin' a young man."