"And it was her wish that I should come to you when I was in extreme distress——?" "Distress! I hope not pecuniary——" "That, and nothing else," said the girl, calmly. Mr. Cayley was only too glad to become her banker until the legal arrangements should permit of her stepping into a command of money such as Harry Ormond himself had never owned. "And in the meantime," she added, "you will not mention to any one my having seen you. I do not know what I shall do yet. I fear there is something wrong about it all—something unreal or dangerous; and when I think of my poor mother’s life, I do not wish to do anything in haste. I cannot believe that all this money is mine. And the title, too—I should feel as if I were on the stage again, and were assuming a part that I should have to drop in an hour. I don’t want all that money; I should be afraid of it. If my mother were only here to tell me!" Mr. Cayley was called away at this moment to see some other visitor. In his absence John Hubbard came to the door of the room and looked in. He saw before him a figure which he instantly recognised. The girl was looking at the sheet of brown paper which bore her mother’s name, her eyes were wet, and her hands were clasped together, as if in mute supplication to that scrap of writing to say something more and guide her in this great emergency. John Hubbard guessed the whole situation of affairs directly. Without a moment’s hesitation, he entered, and Annie Brunel looked up. "My poor girl!" he said, in accents of deep compassion, with his pale face twitching nervously, "I understand your sad position; and if you had only remained in our house a few days longer, our counsel and advice might have been of service to you in this crisis. How deeply you must feel the want of a true and faithful adviser——!" John Hubbard became aware that he had made a mistake. All the return that his sympathetic consolation provoked was a calm and penetrating look: and then, with a sudden change of manner, that surprised and half frightened him, she rose to her feet, and said, coldly and proudly— "I am here on business; it is Mr. Cayley I wish to see." Bewildered alike by her manner and her speech, Mr. Hubbard only blundered the worse. "My lady," he said hurriedly, and with profound respect, "you will forgive me if I have been too forgetful in offering you my sympathy. But as an old friend—our old relations—the pleasant evenings——"