I'm not going to bet any more.'
She made him promise to buck up, she would consult her friends.... Lady
Conroy would perhaps be angelic and advance her her salary. (Of course
she loathed the idea when she had been there only a week of being a
nuisance and--But she must try.) It was worth anything to see her father
brighten up. He told her to go and see her stepmother.
Mrs. Clay received her with the tenderest expressions and poured out her
despairs and her troubles; she also confided in Dulcie that she had some
debts that her husband knew nothing of and must _never_ know. If only
Dulcie could manage to get her thirty pounds--surely it would be easy
enough with all her rich friends!--it would save her life. Dulcie
promised to try, but begged her not to bother so much about dress
in future.
'Of course I won't, darling! You're a pet and an angel. _Darling_
Dulcie! The truth is I adore your father. And he always told me that he
fell in love with me because I looked so smart! I was so terrified of
losing his affection by getting dowdy, don't you see? Besides, he
doesn't take the slightest notice what I wear, he never knows what I've
got on! Always betting or absorbed in the Racing Intelligence; it's
really dreadful.
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