go there," he thought. "I am doing this principally
for the sake of the child. I can arrange all financial matters through
Spielmann. Grayleigh wants this thing done; I alone can do it to his
satisfaction and to the satisfaction of the public. He must pay
me--what he pays will be Sibyl's, the provision for her future. But I
don't want to see the child--until all this dirty work is over. If I
come back things may be altered. God only knows what may have
occurred. The mine may be all right, there may be deliverance, but I
didn't want to see her before I go. It is possible that I may not be
able to keep my composure. There are a hundred things which make an
interview between the child and me undesirable."

He thought and thought, and at last rose from his chair and began to
pace the room. He had not suffered from his heart since his interview
with Dr. Rashleigh. He gave it but scant consideration now.

"If I have a fatal disease it behooves me to act as if I were
absolutely sound," he said to himself. And he had so acted after the
first shock of Rashleigh's verdict had passed off. But he did not like
the thought of seeing Sibyl. Still, Grayleigh's letter could not be
lightly disregarded. If Grayleigh wished to see him and could not come
to town, it was essential that he should go to him.

He rang his bell and sent off a telegram to the effect that he would
arrive at Grayleigh Manor at an early hour on the following day.

This telegram Lord Grayleigh showed to Mrs. Ogilvie before she went to
bed that night.

"He has consented to go, as of course you are well aware," said Lord
Grayleigh, "and he comes here to see me to-morrow. But I would not say
anything about his departure for Queensland to your little daughter,
until after his visit. He may have something to say in the matter. Let
him, if he wishes it, be the one to break it to her."

"But why should not the child know? How ridiculous you are!"

"That is exactly as her father pleases," replied Lord Grayleigh. "I
have a kind of intuition that he may want to tell her himself. Anyhow,
I trust you will oblige me in the matter."

Mrs. Ogilvie pouted. She was not enjoying herself as much at Grayleigh
Manor as she had expected, and, somehow or other, she felt that she
was in disgrace. This was by no means an agreeable sensation. She
wondered why she was not in higher spirits. To visit Australia
nowadays was a mere nothing. Her husband would be back again, a rich
man, i