'I see that you know what my condition is before I utter it. If you will give me your word--and the word of an Aylwin is an oath--if you will give me your word that you will never marry Winifred Wynne, I will do as you desire. I will myself go upon the sands in the morning, and if the body has been exposed by the tide I will secure the evidence of her father's guilt, in order to save the girl from the suffering which the knowledge of that guilt would cause her, as you suppose.' 'As I suppose!' 'Again I say, Henry, we will not quarrel about words.' I turned sick with despair. 'And on no other terms, mother?' 'On no other terms,' said she. 'Oh, mercy, mother! mercy! you know not what you do. I could not live without her; I should die without her.' 'Better die then!' exclaimed my mother, with an expression of ineffable scorn, and losing for the first time her self-possession; 'better die than marry like that.' 'She is my very life now, mother.' 'Have I not said you had better die then? On no other terms will I go on those sands. But I tell you frankly what I think about this matter. I think that you absurdly exaggerate the effect the knowledge of her father's crime will have upon the girl.' 'No, no; I do not. Mercy, dear mother, mercy! I am your only child.' 'That is the very reason why you, who may some day be the heir of one of the first houses in England, must never marry Winifred Wynne.' 'But I don't want to be heir of the Aylwins; I don't want my uncle's property,' I retorted. 'Nor do I want the other bauble prizes of the Aylwins.' 'Providence has taken Frank, and says you must stand where you stand,' replied my mother solemnly. 'You may even some day, should Cyril be childless, succeed to the earldom, and then what an alliance would this be!' 'Earldom! I'd not have it. I'd trample on the coronet. Gingerbread! I'd trample it in the mud, if it were to sever me from Winifred.' 'You must succeed to it should Cyril Aylwin, who seems disinclined to marry, die childless,' said my mother quietly; 'and by that time you may perhaps have reached man's estate.' 'Pity, mother, pity!' I cried in despair, as I looked at the strong woman who bore me.