Then he rose. “And now, my dear madam,” he said, addressing himself pointedly to Giovanna and wholly ignoring the Captain, “I must ask you to excuse me till to-morrow, when I shall expect to see you here, accompanied by your son, at the same hour as to-day. I would not have quitted you so abruptly but that I have a couple of my tenant farmers waiting all this time to see me about some repairs. But you must not leave the Chase without partaking of some refreshment. Pardon me if I insist. I cannot sit down with you myself, I am sorry to say, for I am under the strictest dietetic regimen. They are terrible tyrants, these doctors. Till to-morrow at eleven, then.” Therewith he shook hands cordially with Giovanna, but the Captain he merely favoured with a curt nod, as it might be a nod of dismissal to one of his dependents; and, indeed, he had already made up his mind that he had seen quite enough of Captain Verinder. Presently a servant appeared with a liberally appointed luncheon tray, at sight of which the Captain brightened visibly, for he was one of those men to whom the good things of the table never appeal in vain. It was not till they were jogging back to the station in their fly, which had been kept waiting for them, that Giovanna said: “I am not sure that I quite got at the meaning of Sir Gilbert’s speech about what he called the entail. Does it mean that—— But perhaps you had better tell me what it does mean.” The Captain drew down the corners of his mouth. “Oh, there’s no possible mistake about his meaning. It seems that your husband was so unspeakably foolish as, in return for the sum of six thousand pound, to deprive himself and his heirs of what otherwise would have been their undoubted birthright. Thus the estate of Withington Chase, and other estates into the bargain, for anything I know to the contrary, instead of descending through the law of entail to Sir Gilbert’s grandson (whom we hope to have the pleasure of introducing to him to-morrow), have, as the result of that act, become the baronet’s sole and personal property, to sell, or give away, or do what the dickens he likes with. I wish with all my heart that John Alexander Clare had been at the bottom of the Red Sea before putting his hand to any such iniquitous document.” “Then, if Sir Gilbert chooses to adopt Luigi as his grandson it does not follow that he will come into the property?” “It certainly does not follow that he will; but neither does it follow that he won’t. Everything hinges on how Sir Gilbert takes to him. If Luigi plays his cards skilfully, there’s no reason why he should not come in for everything when the old gentleman dies. On the other hand, if he plays them badly, he may be left without a shilling.” “And the title?” queried Giovanna.