When the day came round that was to decide the important question for the expectant woman, Mr. Compton insisted, much to Star’s annoyance, that it was necessary for her to meet her, and the rights of the true heir to be established in the presence of all parties. She felt a real pity for the wretched woman when the lawyer led her out to confront Mrs. Richards and her family, for she was unwilling to cause even an enemy pain, while it did indeed almost seem as if she was destined to checkmate every move in their life; but every one, even herself, who knew the circumstances of the past, could but acknowledge that their punishment was a just one. The days, since the meeting and happy reconciliation of Lord Carrol and Star, had been full of joy and contentment. She did not, however, tell him of her expectations regarding the Thornton property, but when the time appointed to meet Mrs. Richards arrived, she asked him to accompany Mr. Rosevelt and herself to Mr. Compton’s office upon a little matter of business. He, with them, remained in the inner office during the lawyer’s interview with his claimants, and the door being slightly ajar, they could hear all that passed in the other room. Lord Carrol was greatly astonished at what he heard, but he was even more so when Mr. Compton came in and led Star forth to present her as the heiress to that large estate. “I am almost afraid to approach you, my lady of Thornton. I begin to fear you may assume some new character at any moment, and soar so far beyond my reach that I shall lose you entirely,” he said, half in jest, half in earnest, when, that evening, he came to see her in her own room in St. James square. “You know I told you I was glad that you won me when I was a poor, obscure little maid,” Star answered, slipping her hand confidingly into his. “I feel perfectly sure of your love,” she added, “and yet I am not _sorry_ that I can come to you now as an equal. I shall not be sorry to have the _world_ say of you that you have chosen wisely,” she concluded, while her glowing eyes and smiling lips told that, for his sake, she exulted in her new position and wealth. “What the world might say of you, under any circumstances, would not trouble me,” he answered, gravely. “But I, too, am glad that I won your heart when you had nothing, if it secures to me your unbounded trust. I do not know either,” he continued, smiling, “as I should have had quite as much assurance in approaching Sir Charles Thornton’s wealthy heiress; and yet,” with a proud uplifting of his handsome head, “while conscious of my own honor and rectitude, I have no need to fear to approach any woman whom I might love.” Star was standing by his chair, and she bent and touched her lips to his forehead as he said this. She was very proud of this grand, true man, who had won her to be his wife simply because he loved her.