I was horribly shocked at her defence of these ladies, for it showed a bitter knowledge of some of the world's ways that jarred on the lips of a woman of twenty. 'I should not like to see you consoling yourself like that.' She looked at me frankly, and her face relaxed into a faint smile as she spoke. 'You need not be afraid; now you are back in England, I don't want any other consolation. I can't forget that there is goodness in the world while I can see you and hear from you. You are going to settle in town?' she added quickly and anxiously. 'No, I had not thought of doing so. I am going back to Lark----' Before I could finish the word she was at my feet, kneeling on a cushion and leaning over the arm of my chair with her face distorted by strong excitement. 'No, no, not Larkhall; you must not go back to Larkhall,' she whispered earnestly. 'Promise me you won't go there, promise, promise.' 'Why, what's the matter? Where should I go but to the only home I have had for eleven years?' 'Yes, but it isn't safe now. If I tell you why you will only laugh at me.' 'No, child, I should be ungrateful to laugh at any proof of your interest in me.' She put her hand on my arm, earnestly pressing it at every other word to give emphasis to her warning. 'My father--you remember him--he is dissatisfied with my marriage. He says you promised to be answerable for my happiness, and he shall make you answer for breaking faith with him.' 'But I have not----' 'I know. I told him that, I told him everything; that I was dying, like the idiot I was, for the love of a man who didn't care for me. He has taken to drink--much worse than before--and he is impatient, savage, and won't listen to reason. He will do nothing but repeat, again and again, "He said he would answer for it, and he shall."' 'But he doesn't even know I have returned.' 'He said you were sure to fly back to the old nest, and--listen, Mr. Maude, for I know this is true; he has gone up there to lie in wait for you. And remember, a man who has one crazed idea and won't listen to anything but his own mad impulses, is more dangerous than one who is angry with good cause.' 'Poor fellow, I think he has good cause.' 'But, Mr. Maude, you don't know what ridiculous things he says!' 'What things?' 'He says that you ought not to have consulted my caprices, but to have married me yourself straight away!' She began to laugh as she finished, but I stopped her. 'He is quite right. So I ought to have done. Unluckily, there was one thing in the way.' Babiole, who was still on the cushion at my feet, leaning against the arm of my chair as she used to do in the Highlands, was looking interested and deeply surprised. 'One thing in the way!' she echoed softly, looking into my face with earnest scrutiny. 'What--_before_ I fell in love with--Fabian?' 'Yes, long before that.' She hesitated, and her eyes slowly left my face, while her brows contracted with a puzzled expression.