"Thank you for your letter. I have thought a great deal; and time and thought have altered my point of view. In spite of a natural great distaste to the step you wish me to take, I will do my best to be a second mother to your children, if you still wish it. I leave you to make all plans, asking you to let me know your arrangements as soon as you can. But I must have three clear weeks before I can leave my home. After that, it will be in the market for sale. "Yours sincerely, "ANSTICE BARRETT." Justin read this slowly. He read it more than once, then folded it between his fingers, and gazed thoughtfully out of the window. Lady Lucy, from her post behind the silver tea service, looked at him with eager, anxious eyes. "Well, Justin, what does she say? I know you have heard from her." "The answer is in the affirmative," was the brief reply. Lady Lucy heaved a sigh. "Sensible girl. I felt that she needed to be saved from her impulsiveness! I can tell you again, Justin, that you have a woman in a thousand! Anstice is old for her age, as capable and efficient as—as a man, and she's just sweetness itself when you come to know her. She couldn't do a dishonourable thing. Courageous, unselfish, and loving. What could you want more for your children, to say nothing for yourself?" "Leave me out of it," said Justin sharply. "She is quick to recognize that it is the children who need her and not I. But—she makes me wait three weeks!" "You impatient man! What are three weeks out of a lifetime? I must go to her at once. She must have some kind of a trousseau." Justin frowned heavily. "Are you picturing us having a fashionable wedding? Don't you realize that we shall do the Registrar's business on our way up North!" "I know that I mean to be with her when the rite is performed," said Lady Lucy. "The Registrar's Office is the only part of the business that I disapprove of." Justin was silent. It had been rather a shock to him when Anstice had so curtly refused to entertain his proposition. Women had pursued him since his wife's death. It was quite unusual for any woman to dislike him. He had been at first amused, then angry, when Anstice had spoken so frankly and straightly upon the subject. Now he weighed her few words carefully. It was certainly a whole-hearted surrender. What had influenced her, he wondered, to alter her views? He would rather like to have had an inkling of her thoughts. And then he summarily dismissed her from his mind. He had got what he wanted, and very soon now he would be scudding through the ocean waves, leaving all his responsibilities behind him. An hour later, and he was in the express train for town; and Lady Lucy was driving over in her car to see her young cousin, and to give her advice concerning this strange marriage. * * * * *