“Oh, it wasn’t so hard,” laughed Shirley.  “It was the subject that appealed rather than any special skill of mine.  The trusts and their misdeeds are the favourite topics of the hour.  The whole country is talking about nothing else.  My book came at the right time, that’s all.”

Although “The American Octopus” was a direct attack on her own husband, Mrs. Ryder secretly admired this young woman, who had dared to speak a few blunt truths.  It was a courage which, alas! she had always lacked herself, but there was a certain satisfaction in knowing there were women in the world not entirely cowed by the tyrant Man.

“I have always wanted a daughter,” went on Mrs. Ryder, becoming confidential, while Shirley removed her things and made herself at home; “girls of your age are so companionable.”  Then, abruptly, she asked:  “Do your parents live in New York?”

Shirley’s face flushed and she stooped over her trunk to hide her embarrassment.

“No—­not at present,” she answered evasively.  “My mother and father are in the country.”

She was afraid that more questions of a personal nature would follow, but apparently Mrs. Ryder was not in an inquisitive mood, for she asked nothing further.  She only said: 

“I have a son, but I don’t see much of him.  You must meet my Jefferson.  He is such a nice boy.”

Shirley tried to look unconcerned as she replied: 

“I met him yesterday.  Mr. Ryder introduced him to me.”

“Poor lad, he has his troubles too,” went on Mrs. Ryder.  “He’s in love with a girl, but his father wants him to marry someone else.  They’re quarrelling over it all the time.”

“Parents shouldn’t interfere in matters of the heart,” said Shirley decisively.  “What is more serious than the choosing of a life companion, and who are better entitled to make a free selection than they who are going to spend the rest of their days together?  Of course, it is a father’s duty to give his son the benefit of his riper experience, but to insist on a marriage based only on business interests is little less than a crime.  There are considerations more important if the union is to be a happy or a lasting one.  The chief thing is that the man should feel real attachment for the woman he marries.  Two people who are to live together as man and wife must be compatible in tastes and temper.  You cannot mix oil and water.  It is these selfish marriages which keep our divorce courts busy.  Money alone won’t buy happiness in marriage.”

“No,” sighed Mrs. Ryder, “no one knows that better than I.”