"I know," said the Beggar Man. "And you have been most kind. I shall never be able to thank you for what you have done for us both." Peg said, "Oh, chuck it!" but she looked pleased. She went back to Faith and told her that she had failed. "Never mind, honey," she said, when she saw the girl's disappointment. "If at first you don't succeed, you know, try, try, try again, as they used to tell us in the copybooks; and I'm not done yet. You'll have to go off with him alone, and I'll come along later." "I shall never go," said Faith. It was curious how determinedly she stuck to that. Even Peg marvelled at her unexpected display of will-power. She did not understand how deeply ingrained in the girl's soul the failure and death of her father had been, or how the loss of her mother had reawakened and added to its power. "You'll have to let the twins go, anyway," Peg said bluntly. "Why, it would be a crime to try and keep them, bless their hearts! After all the new frocks he's bought them, you ought to see!" "I don't want to see them," said Faith passionately, the tears rushing to her eyes. "Nobody will ever love them as I do." But she knew she was powerless to keep the twins with her. Mr. Shawyer came and talked to her about it. He pointed out kindly but firmly that her husband was their natural guardian now, as she herself was under age. "He is doing and will do everything in his power for their happiness," he said. "He has been most kind and generous. It's all for the good of the little girls, too, and they are quite happy to go. Don't you think it's rather selfish of you to try and stand in their way?" She gave in at last, but it almost broke her heart. She had got it into her head that if her mother could know, she would be angry with her for parting with them; all the more angry because it was Forrester who was paying for it all. Her mother had hated him, and Faith believed that therefore it was her duty to hate him also. She broke down when it came to saying good-bye. There was a cab at the door, piled with the twins' new luggage, and Mrs. Shawyer was waiting to take them to school. Up to the last moment they had been wildly excited and full of delight, but the sight of Faith's pale face and tears was a signal for them to give way also. They clung to her sobbing and crying. They did not want to go, they yelled; they even kicked at Forrester when he picked them up one under each arm and carried them down to the waiting taxi. He was annoyed with Faith for being the cause of such a scene. He went back to her when they had driven off, frowning heavily. Faith was sobbing and looking out of the window in the direction in which the twins had disappeared--carried off by main force, so it seemed to her. She turned round and looked at her husband with flaming eyes. "I'll never forgive you for this," she said. "It will break their hearts, poor darlings!"