‘Then you shall take the consequences. I will proclaim you to be the villain that you are; will tear you from your present exalted station, and will send you back to your former poverty and rags. You shall be dispossessed. You shall disgorge the rents and all that you have improperly acquired. You--’ He merely laughed at her, mockingly and rudely, which exasperated her beyond all bounds. ‘Begone, sir! You shall not remain here another second to insult me. Begone! or--’ He only laughed more loudly and mockingly than before. Instantly her rage passed into fury which seemed uncontrollable. ‘Begone!’ she cried again, snatching up a sharp-pointed paper knife and rushing on him with so much intention that Sir Rupert precipitately retired. She followed him downstairs with a wild shriek, little recking how completely she was playing into his hands. The butler had just admitted several other visitors, who heard and saw all that passed. Sir Rupert went up to them apparently for protection, but his first words showed that he was eager for more than this. ‘Gentlemen, you have arrived most opportunely. You can see for yourselves. It is clearly not safe to leave her any longer at large.’ The butler had quelled poor Lady Farrington almost instantly, but although he held her back she was still furious and foamed at the mouth. ‘Scarcely. We cannot refuse the certificate,’ said Mr. Burkinshaw, of Bootle, a local magistrate and magnate. ‘Sir Henry quite agrees with me, and the doctors have no manner of doubt. Poor woman, she ought clearly to be put under restraint.’ And she was, without unnecessary delay. Thus Herbert Larkins lost his protectress just when his fortune seemed close at hand. The cup was dashed away just before he had lifted it to his lips, with consequences which were by no means pleasant to himself, as will be seen in the next chapter. CHAPTER IV. TAKING THE SHILLING. Herbert Larkins was in the class-room when he was summoned to see a gentleman who had called. ‘I come from Lady Farrington,’ said his visitor, rather abruptly. He was a tall, dark-eyed man, with a sinister look upon his face. ‘She is well, I hope? Nothing has happened? I half expected her to-day or to-morrow.’ ‘She is well, but she cannot come here, and wishes you to go to her at once. You are aware, no doubt--’ ‘The time then has arrived?’ Herbert said, a little incautiously. ‘It has arrived. You are ready, I presume?’ ‘I must speak to Dr. Jiggs. I cannot leave the school without his permission, of course.’ ‘That is all arranged. When you have got your belongings together, we will start. You are not to return here. You know that, I presume?’ ‘We are going to join Lady Farrington?’ The visitor bowed assent. An hour or two later they were in the train and on the road to London. There was little conversation between them. Herbert was shy, and his companion by no means talkative or sociable. ‘Where does Lady Farrington live?’ Herbert asked.