"No, it isn't," cried Claud stoutly. "She didn't know I was coming, and when I did come she ordered me off--so now then." "Then leave this house." "No, I won't, till I've said what I've got to say; so put down that whip before you hurt somebody, more, perhaps, than you will me. You're not her father." "I stand in the place of her father, sir, and I order you to go." "Look here, Doctor, don't forget that you are a gentleman, please, and that I'm one, too." "A gentleman!" cried Pierce angrily, "and dare to come here in my absence and insult my sister!" "It isn't insulting her to come and tell her how sorry I am she has been ill." "A paltry lie and subterfuge!" cried Pierce. "No, it isn't either of them, but the truth, and I don't care whether you're at home, Doctor, or whether you're out I came here to tell her outright, like a man, that I love her; and I don't care what you say or do, I shall go on loving her, in spite of you or a dozen brothers.--Now give me my whip." His brave outspoken way took Pierce completely aback, and the whip was snatched from his hand, Claud standing quietly swishing it round and round till he held the point in his fingers, looking hard at Jenny the while. "There," he said, "I don't mean to quarrel; I'm going now. Good-bye, Jenny; I mean it all, every word, and I hope you'll soon be better. There," he said, facing round to Leigh. "I shan't offer to shake hands, because I know that you won't but when you like I will. You hate me now, like some of your own poisons, because you think I'm after Cousin Kate, but you needn't. There, you needn't flinch; I'm not blind. I smelt that rat precious soon. She never cared for me, and I never cared for her, and you may marry her and have her fortune if you can find her, for anything I'll ever do to stop it--so there." He nodded sharply, stuck his hat defiantly on his head, and marched out, leaving Pierce Leigh half stunned by his words; and the next minute they heard him striding down the road, leaving brother and sister gazing at each other with flashing eyes. CHAPTER THIRTY THREE. For some moments neither spoke. "Was this your doing?" cried Leigh, at last, and he turned upon his sister angrily. At that moment Jenny was lying back, trembling and agitated, with her eyes half closed, but her brother's words stung her into action. "You heard what Mr Claud Wilton said," she retorted, angrily. "How dare you speak to me like this, Pierce, knowing what you do?" He uttered an impatient ejaculation. "Yes, that is how you treat me now," she said, piteously; "your troubles have made you doubting and suspicious. Have I not suffered enough without you turning cruel to me again?" "How can you expect me to behave differently when I find you encouraging that cad here? It is all the result of the way in which you forgot your self-respect and what was due to me." "That's cruel again, Pierce. You know why I acted as I did."