Then she threw herself on her knees before him, with a faint cry for mercy. But he put her back in her seat, and then took her hands in his and held them firmly. 'Hush! you must not do that. I will be as kind to you as I can. Do you think that my heart is not full of pity for you, in spite of your wrong-doing? Try to be reasonable and listen to me. I have only one piece of advice to give you. Tell your son everything, as you have told me.' 'Never, never! I would die first.' 'You do not know what you are saying,' he returned soothingly. 'Do you think a son is likely to judge his own mother harshly? If I can find it in my heart to pity you, will your own flesh and blood be more hard than a stranger?' 'Oh, you do not know Cyril!' she replied with a shudder. 'He is so perfectly truthful. I have heard him say once that nothing can justify a deception. In spite of his goodness, he can be hard--very hard. When Kester was a little boy, he once, told a lie to shield Mollie, and Cyril would not speak to him for days.' 'I do not say that he will not be shocked at first, and that you may not have to bear his displeasure. But it will be better--a hundred times better--for him to hear it from your own lips.' 'He will never hear it,' she returned; and now she was weeping wildly. 'The story will never be told by me. How could I bear to hear him tell me that I had ruined him--that his prospects were blasted? Oh, have mercy upon a miserable woman, Captain Burnett! For the sake of my boy--for Kester's and Mollie's sake--help me to send Mat away!' He made no answer, only looked at her with the same steady gentleness. That look, so calm, yet so inexorable, left her no vestige of hope. A rock would have yielded sooner than Michael Burnett, and she knew it. 'I was wrong to trust you,' she sobbed. 'You are a hard man--I always knew that; you will stand by and see us all ruined, and my boy breaking his heart with shame and misery, and you will not stretch out your hand to save us.' But he let this pass. Her very despair was making her reckless of her words. 'Mrs. Blake,' he said quietly, 'will you tell your son that he has a father living?' 'No; I will not tell him!' Then Michael got up from his chair as though the interview were at an end. His movement seemed to alarm Mrs. Blake excessively. 'You are not going? Do you mean that you are actually leaving me in this misery? Captain Burnett, I would not have believed you could be so cruel!' 'There is no use in my staying. I cannot convince you that your best hope for the future is to throw yourself on your son's generosity. I regret that you will not listen to me--you are giving me a very painful task.' Then she started up and caught him by the arm. 'Do you mean that you will tell him?' 'I suppose so--somebody must do it; but I would rather cut off my right hand than do it.' 'Shall you tell him to-night?' 'No, certainly not to-night.' 'To-morrow?'