ood
vicar saw us together on one occasion; I presume he hurried home
forthwith to spread the news over the parish. In these dead-alive
places the most casual acquaintance is magnified into a scandal, but
fortunately Lady Margot is a woman of the world who is unaffected by
silly chatter. She has a dull time at the Moat, and is glad to meet a
fellow-creature with whom she can have a few minutes' conversation.
Personally, I don't care what the whole parish pleases to say. There is
only one person whose opinion matters. ... Ruth! what are you trying to
imply?" He moved nearer to her as he spoke, until the arm which rested
on the back of the seat almost touched her shoulder. "Lady Margot is
pleased to be friendly and gracious, but she does not belong to my
world. She is a star far above the head of a poor struggling barrister,
even if he were fool enough to aspire to her, which he certainly would
not do so long as there are inhabitants of his own sphere a hundred
times more beautiful and more attractive."

Ruth shook her head, her eyes fixed shyly on the ground.

"If the barrister were the heir to the Court, it would make all the
difference in the world. Uncle Bernard spoke very warmly of the Blount
family. It might increase your chance," she urged, compelled by some
impulse which she could not understand to argue against her own wishes.
"Perhaps the condition has something to do with ambition, and pride of
race."

"In that case, again you score the advantage, for you are his direct
descendant. I think myself, however, that it refers entirely to money.
He has warned us that he has peculiar ideas on the subject. Probably he
is on the look-out for a similar peculiarity. He has consulted me, and
Melland also, I believe, on several matters in connection with the
estate; but my ideas are purely businesslike, and Melland is hopelessly
happy-go-lucky, so there was nothing original in either his advice or
mine. No! from whichever point of view I consider the question, I
always come to the same conclusion. You are the nearest heir; you are a
Farrell in name as well as appearance. You are not extravagant nor
thoughtless like your sister. To Melland, as well as to myself, the
result is a foregone conclusion. I would congratulate you on the spot
if I could do so honestly.--I wonder if you will in the least understand
what I mean, when I say that I wish it had been any one of the four
rather than yourself?"

The fac