Mr. George Dashwood staggered into the hall at the dower house with an exaggeration of grief that filled Mary with contempt. The dethroned head of the house seemed to have no thought for anything but himself. His eyes were filled with tears, his voice was weak and tremulous with selfish emotion.

"This is dreadful," he moaned. "Really, I had expected something better at your hands, Darnley. Still, I suppose you are merely here to fulfil a promise to Ralph Dashwood. Most selfish of a man to keep in the background all these years and then spring a mine on one like this. And here am I, at my time of life, with nothing to fall back on, not even a pension, for I commuted mine when I left the Service. Still, that young fellow did not behave at all badly. Don't forget, my dear that he offered us the free use of the Hall for the present, at any rate. And he said that he was not a marrying man. Well, if you play your cards properly, Mary----"

Mary turned her face away and hid her hot cheeks in a great bowl of dewy roses standing on the hall table. It was no use, she could not keep the tears back any longer. This was the crowning humiliation of an unspeakable day. For her father to deal her this blow in the presence of the one man whose respect she valued so highly was the refinement of cruelty. She rushed from the hall with choking words to the effect that she must go and tell Lady Dashwood everything.

"What's the matter with the girl now?" Dashwood asked peevishly. "Not one word of sympathy has she uttered. Children have no feelings nowadays, Darnley. I suppose she was angry about the new head of the house. What better arrangement could be made? It would settle all the difficulties at once, especially now Mayfield is out of the way. I thought that our young friend put it very nicely."

"Did you?" Ralph responded coldly. "I may not be a judge of these matters, but I fail to see how you could accept that invitation. Of course, a few days' residence at Dashwood to get your personal belongings together would be another matter."

"But what am I to do?" Dashwood asked feebly. "I am an old man, I have been accustomed to the best of everything all my lifetime, and here I am cut off from all my pleasures and not a penny to call my own. I can't starve, my good fellow, and I couldn't stay here with Lady Dashwood; she gets on my nerves terribly. What am I to do? Really, I feel in absolute need of a cigar and glass of champagne. It is not my habit to drink at this time of the day, but my condition calls for it."

Dashwood crept away with many a sigh and groan, and Ralph was left to his own by no means pleasant thoughts. He had deliberately struck the blow, and now that it had fallen, he was inclined to be dismayed at the result. It was very hard upon this feeble old man, it was very hard upon Mary, but Ralph steeled himself for the fray. Things were going to be worse yet, the lily was going to pine upon the stem. Still, it would never do now to become infirm of purpose, let the consequences be ever so bad. Yet, if the worst came to the worst, it would be easy to sweep away the whole network of intrigue and fraud by the raising of a finger. It was necessary that Mary should learn her lesson to the last letter. That the girl would fight hard against her misfortunes Ralph did not need to be told. That she would refuse to eat the bread of charity at another person's expense he was perfectly sure. He was still debating the problem when Mary entered the hall again. Her face was very white; there were dark rings under her blue eyes, which were now swollen with tears. The girl flushed as she saw the sympathy in Ralph's face.

"Do not think me weak," she pleaded. "I am finding out that I am only human after all. I have always despised tears, but the pain at my heart was so great that tears brought the only cure for it. But I did not come here to talk about myself. I have been telling Lady Dashwood everything, and she has expressed a desire to see you. What have you done with my father?"

"He has gone to the dining-room. He declared that exhausted nature required a stimulant in the form of champagne. I am afraid that you will not find your father much use to you in the dark hours to come, Mary."

"I'm afraid not," Mary sighed, "but won't you go and see Lady Dashwood? She is upstairs in her sitting-room. Of course, she is upset; in fact, she has been saying all sorts of strange things which are beyond my comprehension. Why has she taken such a strange fancy to you, I wonder?"

But Ralph did not appear to be listening. There was every prospect of a painful interview before him. He passed up the stairs to the ple............