On the whole it was a most marvellous recovery. The nurse had been a little severe on Mary; she had had no business to fly to the bedroom of the patient in that way. But Ralph was most emphatically of the opinion that Mary's action had hastened his convalescence. At the end of the week he was in the drawing-room with the windows open, so that he could catch the sweet fragrance of the summer air, and the doctor was jokingly congratulating him on the thickness of his skull. The London police had been very busy during the past week, but as yet no success had rewarded their efforts. Ralph had said nothing; it was deemed far wiser not to allude to the attack at present, and old Slight had remained silent in the presence of the detectives. Their superior air irritated him and, therefore, he kept his knowledge to himself.

As to the rest, George Dashwood was in Paris. He had been sent there on an errand by Lady Dashwood, who wanted him out of the way. The chatelaine of the dower house was afraid lest George Dashwood should speak out and spoil everything. And Mary had more or less made her peace with her father, who had forgiven her.

"I've no doubt you thought that you were acting for the best," he said. "You are not quite old enough fully to appreciate what is due to the family pride. Still, as nobody knows that you have so far forgotten yourself as to try to earn your own living, it does not much matter. I suppose you have done nothing to be ashamed of."

Mary replied with becoming meekness that she hoped so. Only a little time before she would have flung back the suggestion with passionate scorn. But lately she had become more cheerful and gayer in her disposition. Still, the situation was not without its humorous side. It was not for Mary to point out to her father what a humiliating position he had occupied when he had accepted the impostor's offer of a home at the Hall. But as yet Mary knew nothing of the impostor's downfall, or the real story of the outrage on Ralph. All that was to come. So George Dashwood departed on his errand to Paris, and the mistress of the dower house breathed more freely.

The nurse had gone now; her services were no longer required. And tomorrow the doctor had told Ralph that he could walk across the park if he liked. The next day was a wet one, however, so there was no opportunity. The third day broke gloriously fine, and Ralph came down to breakfast, a little pale and shaky, but almost himself again. Lady Dashwood was reading the paper with a grave face. It was not until the meal was over that she drew Ralph aside.'

"I am going to speak freely to you," she said. "It is a strange thing that you have never asked if we had found anything out about your accident."

"I was waiting for you to speak," Ralph said. "As for myself, I remember nothing. The night I was dining at the Hall, Mayfield gave me a cigar. Almost as soon as I reached the open air, I became so drowsy that I could have fallen down and gone to sleep. A sudden pain darted through my head, and I recollected no more till I came to myself here, and found that Mary was on her knees by the side of my bed. Did I dream that, or did Mary come then and say that she loved me? It was only for a few minutes that I was conscious."

"I have no doubt that that was real enough," Lady Dashwood smiled tenderly. "Mary did rush up to your room, and a fine scolding she got from the nurse for it. But you can settle all that with our dear girl later. Let us get one thing over at a time. You have not the slightest idea who made that attack on you?"

Ralph confessed that such was the case, and Lady Dashwood proceeded to enlighten him. She told Ralph everything that she had gleaned for herself, and that Slight had acquainted her with. Ralph's face was very grave and stern as he listened to the story.

"A very pretty plot," he said. "I can see it all quite clearly now. It was invented by Mayfield. It never occurred to me till now that Mayfield guessed who I was. You see he had seen my father. Very lately Mayfield had been in dire need of money. I had seen to that. He could guess why I stood aside and let it appear as if Speed was the heir of the property; he could see that I did this to save Mary, knowing that I could stop it later and claim, my own. But this gave Mayfield a chance to blackmail Speed whilst he had a grip on the family exchequer. After that was done, Speed could go hang, as far as Mayfield was concerned. The whole thing was spoiled by my chance meeting with Speed in his mother's house. She could tell him who I really was. Hence the plot that nearly killed me. Perhaps I have been. a little bit too clever. If ever I come across my friend Vincent Speed again----"

"You will never do that," Lady Dashwood said. "The man is dead. He perished in yesterday's storm, crossing from Jersey to Granville in a rickety boat. There is a paragraph here in the papers. The man seems to have assumed his own name again, for his linen was marked Vincent Speed. And old Slight told me that he meant to escape in that way. On the whole, my dear Ralph, it will ............