Suddenly Cynthia turned her face upon him.  “Lyman,” said she, “do you think that I could do anything for her—­”

“Do anything for her?” he repeated, vaguely.

“Yes; they cannot have money.  They must be poor:  the father works in the factory.  Would they allow me—­”

The lawyer laughed.  “Cynthia,” he said, “you do not realize that pride finds its native element in all strata of society, and riches are comparative.  Let me inform you that these Brewsters, of whom this child sprung, claim as high places in the synagogue as any of your Lennoxes and Risleys, and, what is more, they believe themselves there.  They have seen the tops of their neighbors’ heads as often as you or I. The mere fact of familiarity with shoe-knives and leather, and hand-skill instead of brain-skill, makes no difference with such inherent confidence of importance as theirs.  The Louds, on the other side—­the handsome aunt is a Loud—­are rather below caste, but they make up for it with defiance.  And as for riches, I would have you know that the Brewsters are as rich in their own estimation as you in yours; that they have possessions which entirely meet their needs and their aesthetic longings; that not only does Andrew Brewster earn exceedingly good wages in the shop, and is able to provide plenty of nourishing food and good clothes, but even by-and-by, if he prospers and is prudent, something rather extra in the way of education—­perhaps a piano.  I would have you know that there is a Rogers group on a little marble-topped table in the front window, and a table in the side window with a worked spread, on which reposes a red plush photograph album; that there is also a set of fine parlor furniture, with various devices in the way of silken and lace scarfs over the corners and backs of the chairs and sofa, and that there is a tapestry carpet; that in the sitting-room is a fine crushed-plush couch, and a multiplicity of rocking-chairs; that there is a complete dining-set in the next room, the door of which stood open, and even a side-board with red napkins, and a fine display of glass, every whit as elegant in their estimation as your cut glass in yours.  The child’s father owns his house and land free of encumbrance.  He told me so in the course of his artless boasting as to what he might some day be able to do for the precious little creature of his own flesh and blood; and the grandmother owns her comfortable place next door, and she herself was dressed in black silk, and I will swear the lace on her cap was real, and she wore a great brooch containing hair of the departed, and it was set in pearl.  What are you going to do in the face of opulence like this, Cynthia?”

Cynthia did not speak; her face looked as still as if it were carved in ivory.

“Cynthia,” said the man, in a harsh voice, “I did not dream you were so broken up over losing that little boy of your sister’s, poor girl.”

Cynthia still said nothing, but a tear rolled down her cheek.  Lyman Risley saw it, then he looked straight ahead, scowling over his cigar.  He seemed suddenly to realize in this woman whom he loved something anomalous, yet lovely—­a beauty, as it were, of deformity, an over-development in one direction, though a direction of utter grace and sweetness, like the lip of an orchid.