That same afternoon, when Mr. Haskins was arraying himself in a Bond Street to call on the fascinating widow, he was seized with a sudden qualm as to the wisdom of his intention. After all, as Tod very truly observed, Mrs. Crosbie was supposed to be engaged to Major Rebb, although no official announcement had appeared in The Morning Post. If then he related the secret which was connected with the Pixy's House and with a pretty girl, Mrs. Crosbie, inspired by , might forthwith demand an explanation from Rebb. In that case--vulgarly speaking--the fat would be on the fire and there would be a fine blaze.  
On the other hand, Gerald wished to Mrs. Crosbie on his side for two reasons. Firstly, she had been the close friend of his mother, to whom he had been tenderly attached, and as a boy he had with her in the calf-love stage. They now were what Tod would call "pals," and Gerald usually took all his troubles to her, for she was a wise little woman. Of course there were nasty people who called Mrs. Crosbie an adventuress, and who said that she had her late husband to death; but these were in the minority. So far as Haskins could read character--and he prided himself thereon--Mrs. Crosbie was a good woman, who certainly ought not to marry a like Rebb. And that the Major was a rascal Gerald believed--perhaps on . For after all there might be an honest explanation of the Pixy's House mystery.
 
In the second place Haskins wished to remove Mavis from her prison, and as some time would necessarily have to elapse before he could marry her he desired to place her under the wing of Mrs. Crosbie. Since the widow was connected with Rebb, this seemed rather like putting Mavis into the lion's cage. But Mrs. Crosbie was the sole woman of Haskins acquaintance of whom he could ask the favor of chaperoning a young girl. Also, once Mavis was at the flat and practically beyond Rebb's reach--since he then could not hide her again--there would be no necessity for further , and the Major would have to account to Mrs. Crosbie for the of his in Devonshire. The explanation--which would have to precede the marriage of Mrs. Crosbie to Rebb--could then be to Haskins, and all things would be made straight. Of course, there was always a chance that they might be too to be straightened. If so, it was the more necessary that Mavis should be placed in Mrs. Crosbie's , and that the little woman's eyes should be opened.
 
Bearing these things in mind, Haskins into the street to call a hansom, and proceeded to visit Mrs. Crosbie. She dwelt along with her mother in a block of , known as Ladysmith Court, and which had been by a financier of South African fame. The mansions were near Marylebone Road, and although the address was not ultra-fashionable the rents were high. When Gerald paid his cab at the foot of the marble steps, and surveyed the huge pile of redbrick buildings he reflected that Tod must be wrong about the widow's financial position. Only a rich woman could afford to live here, and there could be no money-grubbing idea in connection with the Rebb marriage, even though the Major had six thousand a year. Nevertheless it was strange that Mrs. Crosbie should marry Rebb, when he was so much disliked by Mrs. Berch, of whom her daughter was fond.
 
Mrs. Crosbie's flat was on the second floor, and Gerald was shown into a small but smart drawing-room by a neat maid servant. It was a true woman's room, furnished, decorated, and filled with all manner of useless knick-knacks and fancy china, and silver-framed photographs, and Japanese draperies, and finally with masses of flowers in many-hued vases. The of the blossoms and the perfume of a burning pastille made the atmosphere , but somewhat heavy, in spite of the rose-curtained French windows which opened on to a tiny balcony. Near one of the windows Mrs. Crosbie was seated, looking somewhat pale and disturbed, and facing her was an overdressed man, with white hair and moustache, who looked like a foreigner.
 
"How are you, Gerald?" asked Mrs. Crosbie, when Haskins was announced, and addressing him by his name according to custom. "I have not seen you for ages." She shook hands and looked at him. "How brown you are, my dear boy. Allow me to introduce you two men. Signor Venosta, Mr. Haskins. Mr. Haskins, Signor Venosta, who has been amusing me. Do sit down. Tea will be in presently."
 
", madam, but I must depart," said Signor Venosta, who was a , oily-looking Italian of the type, dressed in too a style to satisfy Gerald's fastidious taste. "I have been with you one hour."
 
"You should add that it has seemed like one minute," said Mrs. Crosbie, with a pretty little laugh, and waving a fan, for the heat was . "Well, if you must go, you must!" She rose, and walked with her visitor to the door, glancing over her shoulder meanwhile. "Excuse me, Gerald, I shall return soon." And she left the room with the Italian.
 
This marked courtesy was not usual with Mrs. Crosbie, as she was a spoilt beauty, who preferred that others should wait on her, rather than that she should trouble herself about others. Haskins wondered at her self-denial, and especially in the face of such heat: wondered also that she should look so pale and worried. something was wrong with Mrs. Crosbie, and he began to whether Tod was correct as to money matters. Gerald was not over-rich himself, but he to question his mother's friend, and learn if possible what bothered her, so that he could help.
 
His hostess returned after some minutes, and looked quite herself, but the renewed color might have been due to the reflection of the rose-hued curtains. She tripped across the olive-green carpet like a fairy, and resembled one, being delicate and tiny and beautifully formed. People said that Mrs. Crosbie's blonde hair and pink and white were due to art, since a woman of forty could not possibly look so young without artificial aids. But be this as it may, she certainly appeared wonderfully pretty in her white silk tea-gown, which was draped with expensive lace. Haskins complimented her on her looks when she sank again into her chair and took up the cigarette-case lying on the table at her elbow. "And yet, you know," added Gerald thoughtfully, "I fancied that you looked worried and pale when I came."
 
Mrs. Crosbie lighted her cigarette and shot a keen glance at him. "We all have our worries, my dear boy," she said, blowing a wreath of smoke.
 
"You should not have any, Mrs. Crosbie. And if there is anything that I can put right, you know that I----"
 
"Yes! Yes! I know," she interrupted hurriedly, "but you can't. It really is nothing--oh, nothing at all. It is the heat that makes me look pale and washed out. Mother is lying down quite , but will be in to tea. I hope no one else will come, Gerald, and then we can have a nice long talk."
 
"That is what I have come to have," he said soberly, and produced his own cigarette-case, which he laid on the table. "Give me a match, please. Thank you!" he lighted up. "I am in trouble."
 
"And you have come to me as usual."
 
"Yes. I hope that I don't carry coals to Newcastle."
 
Mrs. Crosbie . "My troubles are only ones, such as come to every woman when she gets past her youth."
 
"You are in the flower of it."
 
"And you have known me for years. Gerald, you certainly must have Irish blood in you, to pay such compliments. Don't think too well of me, my dear boy. I have my faults. Why not? Look at the upbringing that I have had," she ended bitterly.
 
"Why, your mother is----"
 
"All that a mother can and should be," interrupted the little woman. "I know that, Gerald. But her husband, my father, was a . My husband, whom he made me marry in my teens, was a brute. Both my mother and I have suffered poverty and nearly open shame."
 
"Poverty!" Gerald glanced round the room, crowded with such splendid things.
 
Mrs. Crosbie shrugged again. "These are only necessities," she said contemptuously; "fancy a woman of my tastes having to live in a flat, and being bothered by tradespeople! I want a town house, a country house, a yacht, a chance of traveling all over Europe like other rich people. In fact, I want thousands a year, and I have not got them."
 
Gerald looked down . So Tod was right after all, and Mrs. Crosbie was hard up, even to the extent of being dunned by tradespeople. He wondered if he could help her. "You have known me long enough to accept a check," he .
 
She whiffed away the offer contemptuously. "Although I thank you very much for offering the money," she said graciously, "you always were a dear boy. But the amount of money I want would ruin you, since I am aware that you have but the five hundred a year left by your dear mother. There! there!" she tapped him with her closed fan, "we won't talk further of these disagreeable things. All will be well."
 
"When you marry Major Rebb?" asked Haskins .
 
"Why not? The Major is not bad-looking, and has a good position, and at least five thousand a year."
 
"Six, I............