"It is because of its urgency that I speak of it at all; it is by no means a pleasant topic for me or for any of us. You spoke to me just now, sir, in warm words of the part I took in pressing Ramsay Caird to visit at your house, and supporting his claims for Madeleine. I don't know that I was at all eager for it at first; I'm certain I never cared particularly for Ramsay Caird; but I freely own that latterly I did my best for him, convinced that a speedy alliance with him was the only chance of rescuing Madeleine from another offer which I was sure was impending--which would have been far more objectionable, and yet which she would have accepted." "Another offer?--from whom?" "From the gentleman of whom you entertain so high an opinion--from Dr. Wilmot." "From Wilmot! An offer from Wilmot to Madeleine! You must be mad, Ronald!" "I never was more sane in my life, sir. I repeat, I am perfectly certain Dr. Wilmot was in love with Madeleine, that he would have made her an offer, and that she would have accepted him." "And why should she not have accepted him? God knows I would have welcomed him for a son-in-law, and--" "I scarcely think this is the time to enter into that subject, sir; but now that I have enlightened you, I presume you see the objection to calling in Dr. Wilmot to my sister." "I see the difficulty, Ronald; but the objection and the difficulty shall be overcome. You shall yourself go and see Wilmot; and I know he'll not refuse you." "Don't you think, sir, before I take upon myself to do that, it would be, to say the least of it, desirable that we should consult Madeleine's husband?" "Indeed I do not, Ronald," said Kilsyth; "indeed I do not. In giving up my daughter to Mr. Caird I yielded privileges which I alone had enjoyed from her birth, and which I would gladly have retained until her death or mine. But I did not give up the privilege of watching over her health, more especially when it has been so shamefully neglected; and I shall claim the power to use it now." "And you think, after all I have told you, that there is no objection to asking Dr. Wilmot to visit Madeleine?" "See here, Ronald!--I will be very frank with you in this matter--I think that if I had known all you have told me now seven or eight months ago, we should never have had this conversation. For I firmly believe that--granting your ideas were correct--if my darling had married Wilmot, he would have taken care both of her health and her happiness, both of which have been so grossly neglected." The father and son took their way in silence back across the grass, each filled with his own reflections. They had only reached the Albert Gate, and were about to pass through it into the street, when a brougham passed them, and a gentleman sitting in it gravely saluted them. "Good heavens!" exclaimed Kilsyth; "there's Wilmot!"