"You have done him the worst wrong that one individual can do another--you stand between him and fortune. Do you not know that, little more than a year ago, Reginald Eversleigh was the heir to Raynham and all its surroundings?" "I know that; but he was disinherited before I crossed his uncle's pathway." "True; but had you _not_ crossed Sir Oswald's path, there is no doubt Reginald would have been restored to favour. But you have woven your spells round his kinsman, and his only hope lies in your disgrace--" "My disgrace!" "Yes, Lady Eversleigh. Life is a battle, in which the weakest must be trodden down; you have triumphed hitherto, but the hour of your triumph is past. Yesterday you were queen of Raynham Castle; to-morrow no kitchen-wench within its walls will be so low as you." "What do you mean?" asked Honoria, more and more mystified every moment by her companion's words. For the first time, an awful fear took possession of her, and she began to perceive that she was the victim of a foul and villanous plot. "What do you mean?" she repeated, in accents of alarm. "I mean this, Lady Eversleigh--the world judges of people's actions by their outward seeming, not by their inward truth. Appearances have conspired to condemn you. Before to-morrow every creature in Raynham Castle will believe that you have fled from your home, and with me--" "Fled from my home!" "Yes; how else can your absence to-night--your sudden disappearance from the pic-nic--be construed?" "If I live, I shall go back to the castle at daybreak to-morrow morning--go back to denounce your villany--to implore my husband's vengeance on your infamy!" "And do you think any one will believe your denunciation? You will go back too late Lady Eversleigh." "Oh, villain! villain!" murmured Honoria, in accents of mingled abhorrence and despair--abhorrence of her companion's infamy, despair inspired by the horror of her own position. "You have played for a very high stake, Lady Eversleigh," said the surgeon; "and you must not wonder if you have found opponents ready to encounter your play with a still more desperate, and a still more dexterous game. When a nameless and obscure woman springs from poverty and obscurity to rank and riches, she must expect to find others ready to dispute the prize which she has won."