ce in such matters,
repeat to you the well-meant advice which Sir Marmaduke ..."

But she checked him decisively, though kindly.

"You said, Master Skyffington, did you not," she said, "that after
to-day no one had the slightest control over my actions or over my
fortune?"

"That is so, certainly," he rejoined, "but ..."

"Well, then, kind master, I pray you," she said authoritatively, "to
hand me over all those securities, grants and moneys, for which I have
just signed a receipt."

There was naught to do for a punctilious lawyer, as was Master
Skyffington, but to obey forthwith. This he did, without another word,
collecting the various bundles of paper and placing them one by one in
the brown leather wallet which he had brought for the purpose. Sue
watched him quietly, and when the last of the important documents had
been deposited in the wallet, she held out her hand for it.

With a grave bow, and an unconsciously pompous gesture, Master
Skyffington, attorney-at-law, handed over that wallet which now
contained a fortune to Lady Susannah Aldmarshe.

She took it, and graciously bowed her head to him in acknowledgment.
Then, after a slight, distinctly haughty nod to Sir Marmaduke and to
Editha, she turned and walked silently out of the room.

CHAPTER XXVIII

HUSBAND AND WIFE

Mistress Martha Lambert was a dignified old woman, on whose wrinkled
face stern virtues, sedulously practiced, had left their lasting
imprint. Among these virtues which she had thus somewhat ruthlessly
exercised throughout her long life, cleanliness and orderliness stood
out pre-eminently. They undoubtedly had brought some of the deepest
furrows round her eyes and mouth, as indeed they had done round those of
Adam Lambert, who having lived with her all his life, had had to suffer
from her passion of scrubbing and tidying more than anyone else.

But her cottage was resplendent: her chief virtues being apparent in
every nook and corner of the orderly little rooms which formed her home
and that of the two lads whom a dying friend had entrusted to her care.

The parlor below, with its highly polished bits of furniture, its
spotless wooden floor and whitewashed walls, was a miracle of
cleanliness. The table in the center was laid with a snowy white cloth,
on it the pewter candlesticks shone like antique silver. Two
straight-backed mahogany chairs were drawn cozily near to the hearth,
wherein burned a bright fire made up of ash log