After a long, long time her heart leaped suddenly at the sound of wheels and the opening of a door; then died down again at the thought of the interview before her. She heard his footstep in the hall, and then knew by the opening of the room door that he was coming to her as he always did. She stood stiff and rigid to receive him. The sound of the voice she loved so well almost shook her resolution to be stern with him, almost broke her into an appeal. She knew that in another moment his arm would be about her shoulders in the old boyish fashion, and she cried out in an agony, "Stop! Stay where you are. Don't come near me!" He stopped dead; so suddenly quiet was he that she almost fancied he had stopped breathing. Then the tension was over; he gave a quick little gasp and said hurriedly, "What's the matter?" "Years ago, Comethup, when I first saw you in the house wherein your father lay dead, I drove a bargain with you--a bargain which, child though you were, you were fully capable of understanding. Do you remember it now?" "Yes, of course." His heart was beating thickly, and he had a dim and miserable feeling that he knew what was coming. "I fear you may have forgotten it. I asked for your love and your confidence; swore that I would be your friend if you dealt with me openly and squarely through all things and at all times. Have I kept my word?" "God knows you have!" he replied in a low voice. "Have you kept yours?--Ah! you are silent on that point. I ask you to-night if you have anything to tell me--anything to say to me?" He raised his head and looked at her; even made a step toward her with his arms stretched out. Then the arms fell to his sides again and he simply answered, "Nothing." Miss Charlotte Carlaw's face hardened suddenly. "Then the talking must be done by me," she said. "I reminded you just now of our compact when you were a child; perhaps it will be well to remind you of the penalty for breaking that compact. I swore to you then, and I meant it, that if you ever deceived me, ever proved yourself to be anything but the boy I believed you to be, I'd cast you out and you might starve. I meant it then, and, by the Lord, I'll keep my word! It has come to my knowledge to-night that you have done what, in my eyes, is a shameful and disgraceful thing; that, trading on the fact that you believed yourself to be my heir, you have borrowed a large sum of money; have used the bounty and generosity of a foolish old woman who believed in you, and so have actually drawn money which you can not possess until after my death. Will you deny that? Is it true?" "Yes, it's true," said Comethup.