your correspondence?'

'I cannot help that,' rather despondently; 'and I do not see that it
matters now; but still I will tell you, Ursula. Claude is in love with
Lady Betty.'

'With Lady Betty?'

'Yes, and Giles does not know. Etta did not for a long time, but she
found out about it, and since then poor Lady Betty has had no peace. You
see the poor children consider themselves engaged, but Lady Betty will
not let Claude speak to Giles until he has promotion. She has got an idea
that he would not allow of the engagement; it sounds wrong, I feel that;
but in our unhappy household things are wrong.'

'And Miss Darrell knows?'

'Yes; but we never could tell how she found it out: Claude corresponds
with me, and Lady Betty only puts in an occasional letter; she is so
dreadfully frightened, poor little thing! For fear her secret should be
discovered. We think that Etta must have opened one of my letters;
anyhow, she knows all there is to know, and she holds her knowledge as a
rod over the poor child. She has promised to keep her counsel and not
tell Giles; but when she is in one of her tempers she threatens to speak
to him. Then she is always hinting things before him just to tease or
punish Lady Betty, but happily he takes no notice. When you said what you
did I was afraid she had made up her mind to keep silence no longer.'

'Why do you think your brother would object to Captain Hamilton?' I
asked, trying to conceal my relief at her words.

'He would object to the long concealment,' she returned gravely. 'But
from the first I wanted Lady Betty to be open about it; but nothing would
induce her to let Claude write to him. Our only plan now is to wait for
Claude to speak to him when he arrives in November. Nothing need be said
about the past: Claude has been wounded, and will get promotion, and
Giles thinks well of him.'

She seemed a little weary by this time, and our talk had lasted long
enough; but there was still one thing I must ask her.

'Gladys, you said you trusted me just now. I am going to put that trust
to the proof. All that has passed between us is sacred, and shall never
cross my lips. On my womanly honour I can promise you that; but I make
one reservation,--what you have just told me about Captain Hamilton.'

She looked at me with an expression of incredulous alarm.

'What can you mean, Ursula? Surely not to repeat a single word about
Claude?'

'I only mean to mention to one person, with whom the k