Read "The Salt Of The Earth" by Fred M. White online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
Adela gave the necessary directions to the driver, and as they drove along the dismal position of her affairs again occupied her thoughts. It would be no longer possible to pose as a great heiress. Even the immediate future looked black and threatening, for she had no money, and was deeply in debt. A few days ago the debts seemed nothing; they would easily be wiped out by a cheque from her benefactor; but now they would overwhelm her. How could she pay them? Looking listlessly out of the cab, she passed a score of shops, at each of which her account was very large, at each of which she was welcomed with a smile and the obsequious always shown to the lavish customer. Half unconsciously she began to reckon up her indebtedness, and its amount was appalling. Five or six thousand pounds at least would be required to set her free.
But where was the money to come from? Certainly not from the man by her side. He had shot his bolt. The end to the meteoric career of Samuel Burton was at hand. The passer-by might not deem the brilliant man of the world played out. But Adela had been permitted to peep behind the scenes, and she knew.