.

"How did you know he was here?" she at length asked, without looking up.

"I met a man hurrying from the door as I came in. It was too dark to
see who he was, and he did not seem to notice me at all. Tom knows my
opinion of him, and so he is not anxious to meet me. I did not think
of Tom, though, until I found you so upset. And he was smoking too,
for there is the stub of his cigarette. Why can't he leave you alone?"

"He never will, Jess. He is just like Will and Dick. They are always
bothering me about money, as if I haven't been giving to them for
years. They are just like helpless children."

"Worse, mother. They are three useless men. It is well that I am a
girl, for I might be tempted to follow their miserable example. Are
you not glad that you have only three sons instead of four?"

Receiving no reply, the girl took off her hat, laid aside her wraps,
and rang for the maid. Then she drew up a chair and sat down by her
mother's side.

"My, this fire is pleasant," she remarked, as she leaned back and gazed
into the glowing coals. "I am glad after all that I came home."

"Why didn't Mr. Donaster come in, Jess? I have not seen him for some
time."

"Neither have I, mother." The girl's face flushed, and there was a
challenge in her voice.

"You haven't! Why, I thought you were with him to-night."

"Indeed I was not. You know as well as I do that I wish to have
nothing to do with that man. I have told you so over and over again."

This sudden outburst aroused the woman from her crouching position.
She sat upright, and the expression in her eyes told how deeply she was
offended.

"Now, look here, Jess," she began, "I want no more of this nonsense. I
have made up my mind that you are to marry Mr. Donaster, and marry him
you shall."

"Would you force me to marry such a man as that?" the girl asked.

"And why not?"

"Because I detest him, and hate the very sight of him."

"But he is of a fine family, and his father, Lord Donaster, is
immensely rich. Burton is his only son, and he will inherit the
estate, so you will be Lady Donaster. It is very seldom a girl meets
with such an opportunity in this province."

The girl gave her head a slight toss, and her face flushed more than
ever.

"I can hardly believe it possible that you are willing to barter your
only daughter for such baubles," she indignantly replied. "It is
unnatural."

The presence of the maid with tea and toast inte