I saw him gazing at her very hard; then he went downstairs, almost like a flash. I wondered what he was going to say to Alex. Meanwhile I stood silent by the fire. Miss Grace Donnithorne, that was, faced me. She had removed her hat and taken off her jacket. She had a little comb in her pocket; with this she smoothed out her hair. She went to the wash-stand and washed her hands. Hannah appeared with the coals. "Put a good many on, please, Hannah. I want the room to be quite warm," said the new mistress. Hannah obeyed. The late Miss Grace Donnithorne looked round the room. "Much too large," she said. "All the rooms are large in this house," I answered. "Oh, we'll choose a cosier one than this--eh, Dumps?" she said. "Can't find one in this house," was my response. "Well, this will do for to-night." She looked at me. The kindness in her eyes seemed kinder than ever. It would have been difficult, had she not been my step-mother, to resist her; but being my step-mother, I stood very cold and still, responding quite civilly when she spoke, but not offering any advances on my part. She had washed her hands now, and the fire was blazing brightly. She poured some hot water into a basin. "This is for the Professor," she said. "He must warm himself. He is very cold, dear man! He is a very precious creature, and--" I wished she would not talk of him like that. I felt a sense of irritation. Then I looked at her and the irritation vanished. "The boys are so hungry," I said. "And so am I," she replied, with a laugh; "and your dear father is too. My dear Dumps, he has a ravenous appetite. That is a great relief to me. He hasn't the faintest idea how much he eats, but it's that that keeps him going. He eats without knowing that he is eating. But he mustn't go on doing that. I am certain he bolts his food, and that will mean indigestion by-and-by. And indigestion breaks up life. You and I have a great deal on our hands." Then there was a dead pause. "Dumps dear," she said, coming nearer. In another minute perhaps she might have said something, and all that followed need never have been written; just at that moment she laid her hand on my shoulder, but before she could utter the words, whatever they were, that were trembling on her lips, her eyes fell on the little trunk--on the little leather trunk with my initials, R.G., on the lid. She could not mistake it. She gave a start; into her comely cheeks there flamed a vivid red. She bent down without a word and opened the trunk. She looked at the contents, took up the card which I had laid on the top and read it. Then she laid it back again very quietly, without uttering a syllable, and closed the lid of the little trunk. Then she turned to me. "Shall we go down to supper?" she said. Her voice was quite cheerful. But there was a wall of ice between us. PART TWO, CHAPTER ONE. THE NEW ORDER OF THINGS.