George Wainwright was by no means unconscious that he had done anything but a friendly act towards the Derinzys, by making himself accessory to the reconciliation which he foresaw as the inevitable result of the meeting between Paul and Daisy. He quite understood that he should be regarded in the light of an enemy by Paul's father and mother; and that, should circumstances turn out so happily as to lead to an avowal of his feelings towards Annette, he would have laid himself open to the imputation of the meanest of motives, in encouraging his friend to a step which should at once remove him from rivalry for the lady's hand and competition for her fortune. The attainment of Annette's majority would set her free from the guardianship of her uncle; but if her infirmity of mind continued--and it would then be her relatives' interest to prove the fact which it had been their interest to conceal--it would be a curious question how Captain Derinzy would act. George held a very decided opinion of Annette's uncle, and he felt very little doubt that the "old scoundrel," as he designated him in his meditations, would take measures to prove the girl's insanity in order to bar her from marriage or the testamentary disposition of her property. If anyone else had been her legal heir, George felt that, if the hope of her restoration failed, it would have been possible to make terms, at least to secure secrecy; but not in the case of Captain Derinzy, especially under the circumstances which he felt were now shaping themselves into form. Greed, spite, revenge, and exasperation would all combine to inspire the Captain with a determination, in which George had no doubt he would be warmly supported by Mrs. Derinzy, to do his worst with the least possible delay. But George, beyond feeling that they required consideration and cautious handling, cared little for these things. If the experiment undertaken by Dr. Hildebrand should happily prove successful, he would do his best to make Annette love him and become his wife; and then they might dispute her fortune as they liked--he should have enough for both. If the experiment were destined to fail, he could not see that the Derinzys would have much to complain of. They would not like their son's marrying a milliner, of course; but as it was quite clear they could not make him marry Annette, it did not materially affect the chief object of their amiable and conscientious scheme. At all events, no pondering over it on George's part, no resolution he could come to, would avail to shorten the period of suspense, to alter the fact that the crisis of his life must shortly be encountered.