Anne was surprised. Not much money? Poor Miss Mable. Had her family fallen on hard times before her parents died? Or had an evil relative taken all the money and left the poor orphans penniless? Anne reached out and touched Mable's arm briefly. "Ye mustn't be ashamed of bein' poor, Miss Mable, although I'm sure it's harder when ye ain't used to it. But there's no shame in it, if ye didn't cause it by bad habits. I won't tell anyone, but if its a comfort, me family ain't rich either, and we've had times where we've been very anxious about whether we'd 'ave enough to stay afloat. Ye needn't be embarrassed."