"Ah, you pitiless woman!" cried Marie. "Do you not see how it is with me?" Lady Ardingly patted her hand gently. "My dear, I am not pitiless," she said; "but it would be cruel of me if I did not put these things before you as they are. It is no time for concealing the truth. You have been thinking only of yourself. All your fastidiousness and your purity has been revolted. You wish to vindicate that insult at whatever cost. I point out to you that the cost is a heavy one." "But if I did--if I did," said Marie, her voice quavering, "would it stop Maud's marriage, for instance?" "Mrs. Maxwell--Lady Maxwell, I beg her pardon--would assuredly forbid the banns." "But Anthony is of age," said Marie. "He would marry her." "He could not. Even if he did, she would be the daughter of the divorced woman." "But I can't help myself," cried Marie. "I could not go on living with Jack." "You prefer to sacrifice innocent and guilty to sacrificing yourself," said Lady Ardingly. "My dear, we live in the world. It may seem to you that I am putting a low view before you, but I assert that you must take the world into account. Else what is the world for?" There was a long silence, and the longer it lasted the more hopeful Lady Ardingly became. She would not have broken it even if to let it continue meant the abandonment of Bridge for the rest of her natural life. Of all her triumphs, there was none, given that she gained this, that did not weigh light compared to it. She hardly dared look at Marie for fear of breaking the spell; but once, raising her eyes, she saw that the other was looking straight in front of her, perfectly motionless, her hands on her lap. She knew that she herself had said her last word. Her quiver of arguments was empty; she had nothing more. Then Marie rose. "If you can spare the time, Lady Ardingly," she said, "please take Maud down to Windsor. You will see--that woman, and tell her what you think fit. Please tell Maud from me to do exactly as you bid her. You can make up any story you please about her absence last night, in case Andrew knows. He probably will not, for he breakfasts early alone, and comes up to town always." She paused a moment. "And send Jack back to me," she said. * * * * * Later on the same day Jack was waiting for Mildred in her room in the Grosvenor Square house. Before long she came in radiant.