saying, she left the room, and as she went up-stairs, two tears
rolled down her cheeks. She was not a woman of very deep feelings,
perhaps, but she had received a blow from which it would take her some
time to recover. She sat down in her own room, and tried to think out
the matter in all its bearings. She felt glad that her husband and
daughter were not to dine at home, for after the first shock was over,
worldly wisdom began to assert itself, and she pondered upon the best
means of avoiding the scandal which appeared inevitable. She was not
very hopeful. Had Gladys been an ordinary girl, entertaining less
exalted ideas of honour and integrity, everything might have been
smoothed over. Women, as a rule, are too lenient towards the follies of
men, especially when the offenders are young and handsome; but Gladys
was an exception to almost every rule. The only chance lay in the
knowledge being kept from her, yet how was that possible, Liz Hepburn
being at that very moment an invited guest at Bourhill? She made some
little alteration in her dress, and went down, perfectly calm, and
outwardly at ease, to a _tete-a-tete_ dinner with her son. When they
were left alone at the table she suddenly changed the subject from the
commonplace to the engrossing theme occupying both their minds, and,
leaning towards him, said quietly,--

'There is only one thing you can do now. It is your only chance, and if
it fails, you can only retire gracefully, and accept your _conge_ as
your deserts.'

'I don't know what you mean,' he retorted a trifle ungraciously, for in
his intense selfishness he had been able to convince himself that his
mother had been rather hard upon him.

'I would advise you to go over to the Crescent to-night and see Gladys,
and tell her what you have heard. Let her understand--as gently and
nicely as you can, but be quite firm over it--that you, as her future
husband, have some right to express an opinion about the people she
makes friends of. You can lay stress on her own youth and ignorance, and
don't be dictatorial. Do you understand me?'

'Yes, but it won't be an easy task,' he said gloomily.

'No, but it's your only chance--a very forlorn hope, I confess, it
appears to me; but you can't afford to neglect it if you want to win
Gladys, and it would be a most desirable marriage.'

These words were the keynote to Mrs. Fordyce's plan of action. To secure
Gladys as a daughter-in-law at any price was her aim, and sh