Sir Joseph Branwin and Miss Rosy¹ Pearl duly arrived at Weed-on-the-Sands, and proceeded to the Three Fishers. Here the millionaire, who had quite a Bourbon dislike to be kept waiting, found a note from his daughter, which greatly annoyed him. Mrs. Shawe wrote that with her husband she had gone to town on business--she did not mention what the business was--and would return by the six o'clock train, which was timed to arrive at Weed-on-the-Sands at eight. There was nothing for it but to await the return of the newly-married couple or return to London.  
"And I have a good mind to do so," fumed² Sir Joseph, furiously, tearing up the letter. "How dare Audrey treat me in this way, when I have taken the trouble to come down and see her--the minx!"
 
"I must say," remarked Miss Pearl, with her most virtuous³ air, "that your daughter shows little consideration for my feelings."
 
"For your feelings?"
 
"Certainly. I came down here only on the understanding that Mrs. Shawe would be present to play the part of my chaperon."
 
"Pooh! Pooh! Audrey is much younger than you are, Rosy."
 
Miss Pearl coloured. "She is a married woman, Sir Joseph, and as such is able by her mere⁵ presence to protect my character. And I beg that you will not call me by my Christian⁶ name in public. I do not know," went on Miss Pearl, in her heavy, rich voice, "whether it would not be better for me to return to London by the next train."
 
"Nonsense! Nonsense!"
 
"Pardon me, Sir Joseph, but it is not nonsense. I have accompanied you here to witness a family reconciliation⁷, and to show Mrs. Shawe that I am not an undesirable⁸ relative. But I have come down with you alone in the hope that Mrs. Shawe would be present. As she is not, I doubt the propriety⁹ of remaining here. In my profession one cannot be too careful. What is to be done?"
 
"We can wait here until Audrey and her confounded husband return at eight o'clock. Then everything will be all right."
 
"Mrs. Shawe may miss the train."
 
"Well, well," said Branwin, impatiently, "there is another at eight o'clock from London, which gets here at ten."
 
"At that hour it would be too late for me to return," Miss Pearl reflected. "I shall wait for the eight o'clock train, and if Mrs. Shawe does not return I shall go back to London by the nine o'clock."
 
"Oh! I thought you were going to remain here for the night?"
 
"If Mrs. Shawe were here I should not do otherwise. What can you be thinking of, Sir Joseph, to suggest such a thing. Even the fact that your portmanteau and my trunk have arrived together, as we have, is a reflection on my character, now that we have learnt the absence of Mrs. Shawe. However, I shall put the matter right. Permit me."
 
Then Miss Pearl sought out the landlady¹⁰, and pointed¹¹ out with many words that she had come to Weed-on-the-Sands as the guest of Mrs. Shawe, along with Mrs. Shawe's father. As Mrs. Shawe was not in the hotel, Miss Pearl expressed her determination to return to London by the nine o'clock train if the young lady did not come back with her husband. "Therefore," ended the dancer, with an excessively virtuous air, "you will be pleased to see that my trunk is taken to the railway station if by eight o'clock my friend does not come."
 
The landlady quite understood, and promised to comply with the request, so Miss Pearl, having defended her character, graciously consented to partake of dinner: in the company of Sir Joseph at six o'clock. As the pair had arrived somewhat late in the afternoon the meal was served almost immediately, and during its preparation Miss Pearl chatted on select subjects with her companion. When the dinner was over and they had indulged in coffee, Sir Joseph proposed that Miss Pearl should accompany him for a stroll on the smooth sands.
 
"It is a lovely night," said Branwin, looking out of the window at the full moon, "and quite a change after the fogs in London. You'll enjoy it."
 
"Not on the sands," said Miss Pearl, majestically¹². "People would talk if I went with you on the sands at this hour without a chaperon. But I do not mind walking to the pier¹³, which I notice is directly in front of this hotel. There we shall be in evidence, and--"
 
"I don't want to be in evidence. I wish to have you all to myself.'
 
"You are getting me all to yourself," said the dancer, coldly; "but it does not do for a professional artist, such as I am, to invite ill-natured criticism. My mother, who is a consistent Baptist, always told me to be careful."
 
As they strolled across the road to the rude little pier Sir Joseph reflected how handsome she would look when the Branwin diamonds were round her white throat and the Branwin tiara was on her graceful¹⁴ head. She was rather a prude, he considered, but she was also extremely beautiful, so he had little to complain of. Beauty and a passionless nature so rarely go together.
 
With the gait of a Juno Miss Pearl walked on to the pier. It was now close upon eight o'clock, as they had lingered for some time over their coffee. The pier ran some little distance out into smooth water, and at the end were several seats. But there was no parapet round the verge¹⁵ of the jetty, and Miss Pearl chose to consider this somewhat dangerous.
 
"Anyone might fall in with ease," she said. "Bring the bench into the very middle, Sir Joseph, and we can then sit in safety."
 
The obedient millionaire did as he was told, although he would have laughed the former Lady Branwin to scorn had she proposed such a thing. But he was under the impression that his old uncomely wife was dead, and that he was free to marry this lovely and imperial creature, who ordered him about so freely. In fact, having always had his own way, he found a certain amount of delight in obeying her slightest whim¹⁶. So the two took their seat on the bench, which was placed at the end of the pier, in the very centre, and well away from the dangerous water on either side.
 
The night was extremely lovely, being very still. The round moon floated like a golden bubble in a starry¹⁷ sky, and the Channel waters were spread out for miles like a carpet of silver tissues gleaming with tiny points of glittering light. The sands stretched for a long distance towards a bold headland, which jutted¹⁸ into the gleaming sea, and along the front of the shore gleamed the many lights of the town. People were moving up and down to enjoy the beauty of the night, and there was the murmur¹⁹ of many voices and the sound of laughter. After the fogs and chill of the great city, the scene was ideal. Miss Pearl so far forgot her uneasy virtue²⁰ in the presence of this calm beauty that she actually leant her head on Sir Joseph's shoulder and permitted him to slip a fond arm round her substantial waist. And this, with many people walking and talking only a stone's-throw away, although it must be admitted that they had the entire pier to themselves.
 
"Did you do what I asked you to do, Joseph?" demanded Miss Pearl, gently.
 
Her use of his Christian name informed the millionaire that he was entitled to the same privilege. "Yes, Rosy, my dearest," he whispered softly--that is, as softly as such a domineering bully²¹ could whisper. "You mean the allowance to Audrey?"
 
"Of course. She is your daughter, and, however badly she may have behaved, she should be looked after. If you cut her off with a shilling, as you said you would do, people would blame me, and I do not care about beginning my married life with the reputation of being cruel to my step-daughter. One can never be too particular, as my mother, who is a consistent--"
 
"Yes, yes," interrupted Branwin, who was rather weary of Miss Pearl's constant reference to her mother; "I quite understand. I have told my lawyer to write to Audrey informing her that she shall have two thousand a year during my life, and I have to-day made a codicil²² to my will leaving her the same amount should I die. Had she obeyed me in the matter of marrying Lord Anvers she would have had more; but I altered my will and reduced what I intended to leave her to that amount."
 
"It is quite enough," said Miss Pearl, after a pause, and rather nervously²³. "I hope everything is arranged legally?"
 
"Yes, I have signed the codicil, and the letter will be sent to Audrey at the Three Fishers to-morrow. Why do you ask if I have arranged things legally?"
 
"Because," said Rosy Pearl, still nervously, and leaning her head more fondly on her elderly lover's............