At the shouting of that name it did indeed seem that the very walls and ceiling of that old room would collapse. To Aunt Aggie, to Millie, to Henry, to Aunt Betty, this raid upon Katherine struck more deeply than any cynical student of human nature could have credited. For the moment Philip Mark was forgotten—only was it apparent to them all from Grandfather Trenchard and Great Aunt Sarah to Henry that Katherine, their own absolute property, the assurance given to them that life would be always secure, solid, unalterable, had declared publicly, before the world, that she preferred a stranger, a complete, blown-from-anywhere stranger, to the family. What would happen to them all, to their comforts, their secret preferences and habits (known as they all, individually, believed, only to Katherine), to their pride, to their self-esteem? They loved one another, yes, they loved the Trenchard family, the Trenchard position, but through all these things, as a skewer through beef, ran their reliance upon Katherine. It was as though someone had cried to them: “The whole of Glebeshire is blown away—fields and houses, roads and rivers. You must go and live in Yorkshire. Glebeshire cares for you no longer!” “THEY’RE TO WAIT A YEAR, FATHER SAYS!” shouted Millie. Aunt Sarah shook her white-plumed head and snorted: “Katherine! Engaged! To a Stranger! Impossible!” Aunt Aggie was conscious, at the moment, of nothing except that she herself had been defeated. They had tricked her, those two. They had eluded her vigilance.... They were now, in all probability, laughing at her. “The last thing I want to do,” she said, “is to blame anybody, but if I’d been listened to at the beginning, Mr. Mark would never have been asked to stay.... It was thoughtless of George. Now we can all see—” But Millie, standing before them all, her face flushed, said: “The chief thing is to consider Katherine’s happiness. Mr. Mark is probably delightful. She was sure to marry somebody. How can people help falling in love with Katherine? We all love her. She loves us. I don’t see what Mr. Mark can do to prevent that—and he won’t want to. He _must_ be nice if Katherine loves him!” But the final word was spoken by Grandfather Trenchard, who had been hitherto utterly silent. In his clear, silvery voice he said: “A great deal can happen in a year!” At that moment Katherine and her mother came in. BOOK II THE FEATHER BED CHAPTER I KATHERINE IN LOVE