Lord Cheriton continued his pacing to and fro, and did not appear particularly interested in the case of Mercy Porter. He had been much troubled by her flight from Cheriton, for the seducer was his own familiar friend, and he had felt himself in somewise to blame for having brought such a man to Cheriton. He told himself that he would not have had Tremaine inside his house had his own daughter been out of the schoolroom; and yet he had allowed the man to cross the path of the widow’s only child, and to bring desolation and sorrow upon the woman whose life he had in somewise taken under his protection. “There are people whose mission it is to hunt out that kind of misery,” he said, after an interval of silence. “I hope one of those good women will rescue Mercy Porter. I think you have been wise in saying nothing to the mother. She has got over her trouble, and anything she might hear about the girl would only be a reopening of old wounds.” “She is a wonderful woman,” replied the vicar; “I never saw such grief as hers when the girl ran away; and yet within a few months she had calmed down into the placid personage she has been ever since. She is a woman of very powerful mind. I sometimes wonder that even at her age she can content herself with the monotonous life she leads in that cottage.” “Oh, she likes the place, I believe, and the life suits her,” said Lord Cheriton, carelessly. “She had seen a good deal of trouble before she came here, and this was a quiet haven for her after the storms of life. I am very sorry the daughter went wrong,” he added, with a sudden cloud upon his face. “_That_ was a bitter blow; and I shall never forgive myself for having brought that scoundrel Tremaine here.” “He is dead, is he not?” “Yes, he was killed in Afghanistan six years ago. He was a good soldier though he was a bad man. I dare say he made his being ordered off to India an excuse for leaving Mercy—left her with a trifle of money perhaps, and a promise of further remittances, and then let her drift. I told my lawyer to keep his eye upon her, if possible, and to establish her in some respectable calling if ever he saw the chance of doing so; but she eluded him somehow, as you know.” “Yes, you told me what you had done. It was like you to think even of so remote a claim upon your generosity.” “Oh, she belonged to Cheriton. I have cultivated the patriarchal feeling as much as I can. All who live upon my land are under my protection.” “Lady Cheriton has been a good friend to Mrs. Porter too.” “My wife is always kind.”