man--your husband."

Faith looked away across the room, and there was a little frown between
her eyes.

"I don't know," she said hesitatingly. "I don't think I've ever thought
about it. He's very kind--nobody has ever been so kind to me before."

Mrs. Ledley gripped the girl's hand.

"Faith, if you don't love him, why did you marry him?" she asked.

Faith raised her brown eyes.

"I told you," she said. "For you and the twins."

CHAPTER V

John Shawyer looked across his paper-strewn table at Faith's mother and
smiled indulgently.

"I really don't think there is any need for you to be so alarmed," he
said kindly. "I have known Mr. Forrester for a great many years, and
have every reason to believe that he is an honourable man. He came to
see me only last Friday and told me all about his romantic marriage.
Unfortunately he has had to go to America, as you know. I think at the
last it worried him considerably that he had not seen you before he left
and been able to explain things. The marriage is perfectly in order, but
you can go to the registrar yourself if you would prefer to do so...."

Mrs. Ledley broke in tremblingly.

"It all seems so extraordinary. Mr. Forrester had only seen my daughter
three times before he married her, and ... and if he is as rich as you
say, surely he would have looked higher for his wife?"

Poor woman! She could remember more than twenty years ago when she had
made her own runaway match, the tortures of inquisition through which
she had been put by her husband's relatives, and the complete ostracism
with which the miserable affair had finally ended.

She had known herself incapable of ascending to his position in the
world, and he had loved her well enough to sink into obscurity with her.
Was history about to repeat itself in Faith's marriage?

"It is impossible to regulate romance," said Mr. Shawyer; privately he
thought that the Beggar Man had shown taste in his choice of a wife. He
considered that Faith had a charming face, and he was shrewd enough to
see that with a few alterations in clothes the little moth would have no
difficulty in spreading her wings and turning into a butterfly.

He was extremely interested in the whole affair. He had always
considered Nicholas Forrester unique, and he genuinely admired his pluck
in having taken this step.

"I am sure," he went on pleasantly, "that Mr. Forrester would be only
too pleased for me to answer any questions you ma