ave me. I belong to you and
papa."

CHAPTER IX

THE RACE WITH DEATH

It might have been considered great promotion for the daughter of Walter
Gray, who attended all day to the ailments of watches with a magnifying
glass stuck in his eye, to be the friend of Lady Agatha Chenevix as well
as the adopted child almost of Lady Anne Hamilton. Indeed, in the early
days, when Lady Agatha's friendship for Mary brought her into the finest
society the country provided, Lady Anne sometimes watched Mary narrowly,
to see how she was taking it. The result of these observations must have
been quite satisfactory to the old lady, judging by the energetic
shaking of her head after one or two of these occasions when she was
alone and thought over things. Once she spoke her thoughts to Lady
Agatha, to whom, indeed, she found herself often talking in a way that
surprised herself. There was something about the minx that forced even a
suspicious and reticent old lady into trust and confidence, and as her
trust and confidence increased so did her affection for the brilliant
young peeress.

"People said I was mad," she remarked, "when I took Mary Gray into my
house, and into my heart. Matilda Drummond even said--and I have never
forgotten it to her--that if she was my nephew, Jarvis, she'd have my
condition of mind inquired into. Yet see how it has turned out! Is she
spoilt? Is she an upstart? Is she set above her family? She's over there
this minute with that poor little drab stepmother of hers. She worships
her father. The joys and sorrows of the poor little household are as
much to her to-day as the day she left them."

"I know," said Lady Agatha. "She's pure gold. I saw it in her face the
first day I laid eyes on her. The only quarrel I have with her is that
so many people push me out with her. I don't mean you, of course, Lady
Anne. But yesterday I could not have her because she must go to your
doctor's wife, and to-day she was going for a long walk with that little
Miss Baynes. To-morrow it will be her father. It is his free afternoon."

"I heard an amusing thing about the father the other day," said Lady
Anne. "Of course, Mary knows nothing about it. I called at
Gordon's--that is where Mr. Gray is employed--about a new catch for my
amethyst bracelet. I have known Mr. Gordon for years. He is a thoroughly
respectable man. It seems there is a very ill-conditioned person who
works in the same room as Mr. Gray--a good workman, bu