The words had touched a tender chord. She had been thinking of Edward Marston. Since Gertie had come to her, she never looked at the child without thinking of him, and how strangely her little _protégée_ had brought them together again. And now her father, speaking at random, suggested that Gertie had brought her a suitor. The words fitted in so perfectly with the thought that was passing through her mind at the time, that the crimson blood rushed to her cheeks and suffused them. Had Edward Marston seen that blush, he would have known that his forgiveness was nearer its accomplishment than Ruth had given him any reason to hope. CHAPTER XXXVI. RIVALS. Mr. Gurth Egerton, as soon as he had recovered from the astonishment in which his strange meeting with Ralph’s little daughter had flung him, became aware of the fact that the beautiful face of Ruth Adrian had made a considerable impression upon him. By what strange coincidence, he wondered, did this child cross his path at the very moment that he was dreaming of a new life—a life from which all remembrance of the past and all fear of the future were to be banished? This little Gertie Heckett, whom he had always avoided seeing, lest such conscience as he was burdened with might be troubled, had come upon him not in the den of Josh, not leading the miserable life which he had imagined she might one day be reduced to, but well dressed, hearty, and evidently well cared for. His first thought was one of self-congratulation. He felt inclined to pat himself on the back and say, ‘See, you have done no harm to the orphan. If you are enjoying that which may by chance belong to her, she does not suffer through your act.’ Having at last, by a process of reasoning, worked himself up into the actual benefactor of his cousin’s child, he began to wonder what the connection between her and Ruth Adrian might be. He had two motives for following up the adventure of the charity bazzar,—first, to find out something about Gertie, and secondly, if possible, to cultivate the acquaintance of Ruth Adrian. Where Miss Adrian lived, or who she was, he had not the slightest idea; but he imagined he could very soon get a link through the child. The first idea was to look up Heckett and question him about Gertie; but he had a repugnance to renewing the acquaintance. He had studiously kept clear of Heckett, and he did not care to mix himself up again with that portion of the past. He determined to rely upon his usual diplomatist, and lay the case before Oliver Birnie. But when he came to tell Birnie where he had met the child, the doctor was utterly astonished. ‘I haven’t seen Heckett since he was ill,’ he said, ‘and then Gertie was at Little Queer Street. If she’s left him, he’s either given up the crib and gone away, or Gertie has taken French leave. But I can soon find out, if you particularly wish to know.’