Dorothy shook her head.

“No.  Of course, there are various matters they have to consult me about, and get my consent to this project or the other.”

“Read the letter.  Perhaps my mathematical mind can be of assistance to you.”

Dorothy had concealed the letter, and did not now produce it.

“It is with reference to your assistance, and your continued assistance, that I wish to speak to you.  Let us follow the example of the cement and the steel, and form a compact.  In one respect I am going to imitate the ‘Consternation.’  I leave Bar Harbor next week.”

Katherine sat up in her chair, and her eyes opened wide.

“What’s the matter with Bar Harbor?” she asked.

“You can answer that question better than I, Kate.  The Kempt family are not visitors, but live here all the year round.  What do you think is the matter with Bar Harbor?”

“I confess it’s a little dull in the winter time, and in all seasons it is situated a considerable distance from New York.  Where do you intend to go, Dorothy?”

“That will depend largely on where my friend Kate advises me to go, because I shall take her with me if she will come.”

“Companion, lady’s-maid, parlor maid, maid-of-all-work, cook, governess, typewriter-girl—­which have I to be?  Shall I get one afternoon a week off, and may my young man come and see me, if I happen to secure one, and, extremely important, what are the wages?”

“You shall fix your own salary, Kate, and my lawyer men will arrange that the chosen sum is settled upon you so that if we fall out we can quarrel on equal terms.”

“Oh, I see, it’s an adopted daughter I am to be, then?”

“An adopted sister, rather.”

“Do you think I am going to take advantage of my friendship with an heiress, and so pension myself off?”

“It is I who am taking the advantage,” said Dorothy, “and I beg you to take compassion, rather than advantage, upon a lone creature who has no kith or kin in the world.”

“Do you really mean it, Dot?”

“Of course I do.  Should I propose it if I didn’t?”

“Well, this is the first proposal I’ve ever had, and I believe it is customary to say on those occasions that it is so sudden, or so unexpected, and time is required for consideration.”

“How soon can you make up your mind, Kate?”

“Oh, my mind’s already made up.  I’m going to jump at your offer, but I think it more ladylike to pretend a mild reluctance.  What are you going to do, Dorothy?”

“I don’t know.  I’ve settled on only one thing.  I intend to build a little stone and tile church, very quaint and old-fashioned, if I get the right kind of architect to draw a plan for it, and this church is to be situated in Haverstock.”

“Where’s Haverstock?”

“It is a village near the Hudson River, on the plain that stretches toward the Catskills.”