"Please, Miss, you--you remember when we were at Dinan." "Yes, yes; what?" cried Julia. "About Mr Cyril." "Yes," cried Julia, catching her hand; "he has not dared?" "He--he came here yesterday, Miss, while Tom was out," cried Polly, bursting into tears, "and he came once before; and it frightens me, Miss--it horrifies me; for Tom loves me so dearly, Miss; and it would make him angry, and break his heart if he thought ill of me, Miss Julia." "But did you encourage him to come again?" cried Julia, angrily. "No, Miss Julia, I nearly went on my knees to him, and begged him not to come again, but he only laughed, and--and called me a little fool." "You shall tell your husband, Polly," cried Julia, hotly. "I--I was afraid, Miss Julia," sobbed Polly. "I was afraid of making mischief. I dared not tell him. If he thought Mr Cyril came here and troubled me, he would be ready to kill him, Miss, and me too. Oh, what shall I do, what shall I do?" "I'll tell papa," said Cynthia, who had come back unseen. "I declare it's shameful, and I--I wish my brothers were both dead. Oh, Ju, papa must know." "No, no," said Julia, holding the sobbing little woman to her breast; "Polly is right. It would be making terrible mischief. I'll speak to Cyril myself, and if he will not listen to me, mamma shall try. But, Polly, you will tell me if he comes again?" "Oh, yes, yes, Miss Julia," cried the young wife, gazing up passionately in her visitor's face. "And always tell me the whole truth?" "Indeed--indeed I will. Please, Miss Julia," she said simply, "I don't think I ever told a lie." "I don't believe you ever did, Polly," said Julia, kissing her, and turning to the door to go. "There, good-bye, and don't be low-spirited. Cyril is soon going away again, and even if he is not, he shall not trouble you." "Thank you, Miss Julia, and you too, Miss Cynthia," said the young wife, wiping her eyes; "and perhaps you will be at baby's christening?" "If papa doesn't object, indeed we will," cried Julia, smiling, and the sisters went back along the lane. "I would--I would indeed," said the young mother, softly; "I'd do anything to serve dear Miss Julia, and I hope and pray she may never feel such trouble as I do now. Oh, if only they had stopped away!" She was standing in the little porch, listening to the regular harsh sound of a saw in the work-shed, some fifty yards away, gazing after the sisters, till a step coming in the other direction made her sharply turn her head, and then, as she shrank back, her whole aspect seemed to change. She turned ghastly white, her eyes dilated, and she trembled visibly, as if at the sight of some great horror. It was nothing so very terrible approaching either, being only a tall, well-built, handsome young man of six or seven and twenty, his hands in the pockets of his loose jacket, and a cigar in his mouth. PART ONE, CHAPTER THREE. THE STATE OF LAWFORD.