l on the ground that Mr. Vrain was
insane."

"Papa was not insane," reproved Diana. "He was weak, I admit, but at
the time he made that will he had all his senses. Besides, after all the
scandal of the case, I don't think Lydia would have dared to go to law
about it. Still, it was best to give her the money, and I hear from Miss
Priscilla that Lydia is now in Italy, and proposes to marry an Italian
prince."

"She has flown higher than a count, then. Poor Ferruci killed himself
for her sake."

"For his own, rather," exclaimed Mrs. Denzil energetically. "He knew
that if he lived he would be punished by imprisonment, so chose to kill
himself rather than suffer such dishonour. I believe he truly loved
Lydia, certainly, but as he wanted the assurance money, I fancy he
sinned quite as much for his own sake as for Lydia's."

"No doubt; and I dare say Lydia loved him, after her own fashion; yet
she seems to have forgotten him pretty soon, and--as you say--intends to
marry a prince. I don't envy his highness."

"She has no heart, so I dare say she will be happy as such women ever
are," said Diana contemptuously, "yet her happiness comes out of much
evil. If she had not married my father, her own would not now be in
prison, nor would Count Ferruci and Rhoda be dead."

"Ferruci, perhaps, might still be alive, and her husband," assented
Lucian, "but I have my doubts about Rhoda. She was a wicked, precocious
little imp, that girl, and sooner or later would have come to a bad end.
The death of Clear was due to an accident, I admit; but Rhoda has still
one person who laments over her, for, although Mrs. Bensusan knows the
truth, she always thinks of that red-haired minx as a kind of martyr,
who was led into wicked ways by Clyne, _alias_ Wrent."

"I am sure Mrs. Clear doesn't think so."

"Mrs. Clear has got quite enough to think about in remembering how
narrowly she escaped imprisonment for her share in that shameful
conspiracy. If she had not turned Queen's evidence, she would have been
punished as Clyne was; as it is, she just escaped by an accident. Still,
if it had not been for her, we should never have discovered the truth. I
would never have suspected Clyne, who was always so meek and mild. Even
that visit he paid to me to lament over his daughter's probable marriage
to Ferruci was a trick to find out how much I knew."

"Don't you think he hated Ferruci?"

"No; I am sure he did not. He acted a part to find out what I