said
Sherrard.

"You tell me this in order to prejudice me against Hugh--to--to----"

"Hugh! Whom you love--eh?" sneered Sherrard.

"Yes. I _do_ love him," the girl blurted forth. "I make no secret of it.
And if you like you can tell my mother that! You are very fond of acting
as her factotum!"

"It is to be regretted, Dorise, that you have fallen in love with a
fellow who is wanted by the police," he remarked with a sigh.

"At any rate, I love a genuine man," she retorted with bitter sarcasm.
"I know my mother's intention is that I shall marry you. But I tell you
here frankly--as I stand here--I would rather kill myself first!"

George Sherrard with his dark bushy brows and thick lips only laughed at
her indignation. This incensed her the more.

"Yes," she went on. "You may be amused at my distress. You have laughed
at the distress of other women, Mr. Sherrard. Do not think that I am
blind. I have watched you, and I know more concerning your love affairs
of the past than you ever dream. So please leave Blairglas as soon as
you can with decency excuse yourself, and keep away from me in future."

"But really, Dorise----!" he cried, advancing towards her.

"I mean exactly what I say. Let me get back. When I go fishing I prefer
to go alone," the girl said.

"But what am I to say to Lady Ranscomb?"

"Tell her that I love Hugh," laughed the girl defiantly. "Tell her that
I intend to defeat all her clever intrigues and sly devices!"

His countenance now showed that he was angry. He and Lady Ranscomb
thoroughly understood each other. He admired the girl, and her mother
had assured him her affection for Hugh Henfrey was but a passing fancy.
This stubborn outburst was to him a complete revelation.

"I have no knowledge of any intrigue, Dorise," he said in that bland,
superior manner which always irritated her. She knew that a dozen
mothers with eligible feminine encumbrances were trying to angle him,
and that Lady Ranscomb was greatly envied by them. But to be the wife of
the self-conscious ass--well, as she has already bluntly told him, she
would die rather than become Mrs. George Sherrard.

"Intrigue!" the girl retorted. "Why, from first to last the whole thing
is a plot between my mother and yourself. Please give me credit for just
a little intelligence. First, I despise you as a coward. During the war
you crept into a little clerkship in the Home Office in order to save
your precious skin, while Hugh went to