He lifted his eyes to the earnest face. "I would, indeed. Far rather would I have seen her in her grave than what she is--a heartless woman. You have been to her a husband in a thousand, and this is how she has requited you. And now, tell me--if you don't mind telling tales out of school--how Acorn is going on: for I expect you know. Fighting shy of his debts, as usual?" In spite of the mental pain that pressed so heavily upon him, Mr. Grubb could not forbear a smile, her tone was so quaint. "Just now his lordship is flourishing," replied he, his voice assuming a lightness he did not feel. "He had a slice of luck at the Derby: won, it is said, between ten and twelve thousand pounds." Miss Upton lifted her hands. "What a sum of money to win, or to lose! He might have lost it, I suppose, as easily as gained it: and then where would he have been? How can men do these things lightly? How much does he owe you?" The question was put abruptly. A faint colour tinged Mr. Grubb's face. He hesitated. "You do not care to say," quickly spoke Miss Upton. "Quite right of you, no doubt. I conclude you feel pretty secure, having taken his bonds on Court Netherleigh--whenever it shall fall in." "I have not taken any bonds on Court Netherleigh. Believe that, Miss Upton." "Do you mean to say that he has not offered you bonds on it, as security for your loans?" "He has offered them over and over again. But I have never taken them. In the first place, it would have been no true security. Court Netherleigh is not his, and there exists, of course, a possibility that it may never be his: for he--is older than its present possessor," concluded Mr. Grubb, his eyes meeting Miss Upton's. "No; for what I have lent Lord Acorn, I possess no security beyond his acknowledgment." "Ah," shortly commented Miss Upton. "I told you once, you know, that you were safe in letting him borrow money on the Netherleigh estate. But I did not mean to imply that I sanctioned your doing so; certainly not to help him to any extent." "I have not helped him to any great extent. At least, not to more than I can afford to lose with equanimity. I have never advanced to him a sum, large or small, but in the full consciousness that it would probably never be returned." Miss Upton nodded her approval, and passed to another topic. "Will you tell me how your mother is?" she asked. "I hear she is so ill as to be in danger, and that you have been afraid to leave her." "She was in danger three or four days ago, and I was sent for in haste. But the danger has passed, and she is tolerably well again--excepting for weakness. My mother has had several of these attacks now, and it seems to me, that each one is more severe than the last. They are connected with the heart."