Mrs Courtney listened in silence. She had suspected the cause of her daughter’s illness, and the author of her ruin, but she was hardly prepared to hear there was a living witness to her shame domiciled so close to Beauregard. Her naturally sallow complexion turned almost livid with horror, and her unwieldy frame shook with agitation. And when the girl had finished her miserable recital, all her mother could utter was,-- ‘Oh, Maraquita, Maraquita, I couldn’t have believed it of you!’ ‘Mother, don’t speak to me like that! I know I have been very wicked, but I have no friend but you, and if _you_ desert me, I shall be lost. Oh, mother, save me this once, and I will do everything you ask me in the future. You want me to became Lady Johnstone, don’t you? But you must think of some means of stopping Henri’s tongue, or I never shall be. I did not think he would be so spiteful and revengeful! He says he will stab me at the very altar.’ ‘That is all talk, my dear! he will do no such thing! He shall be sent out of Beauregard before a week is over his head; and if he dares to assail your character, your father shall have him punished for it. But listen to me, Quita. There is only one way to fight this scandal, and that is to deny everything. Now, let me understand you plainly. Are you _sure_ that no one but Dr Fellows and his daughter knew the secret of this birth?’ ‘_Quite_ sure, mamma! The Doctor told me so over and over again; and I don’t think Lizzie knows _whose_ baby it is--and if she does, she has taken an oath never to reveal it--and Lizzie will keep her oath!’ said Maraquita, with complete faith in the fidelity of her friend. ‘There was no other person in the house at the time?’ ‘No one, mamma.’ ‘Then your course is plain. Whoever dares to mention this story to you, or at whatever time it may crop up against you, _deny it entirely_. Say you have never heard of such a thing before, and you are entirely ignorant how it could have originated. _I_--as your mother--will corroborate your statement, and we will uphold our assertion before the world. Lizzie Fellows is really the only witness that can come against you, and she will not break her promise, I am sure of that.