As much as Sir Parke was surprised by this avowal, he was much too guarded to permit his astonishment to appear; while Lord Montressor proceeded to say:— “But, this is not the point, sir; what I wished to inquire is whether—now that you are made acquainted with the position of affairs—you will assist me in sustaining Estelle.” There was a pause. For a few minutes pride and affection had a mighty struggle in the bosom of the Baronet, though no one could have guessed it from his calm exterior, and then he replied, slowly:— “Assuredly not, my lord. You, from the infatuation of passion, and Mr. Oldfield, from Christian charity, may unite to protect and defend her; and the literal construction of the statute may save her from the ultimate consequences of her folly, but Estelle has fallen, and no fallen woman must dare to call me father, or look to me for aid and countenance.” An indignant rejoinder rose to Lord Montressor’s lips; he was tempted to inquire of him by whose culpable neglect it was that the child of seven years had been left to grow up under the sole charge of an unprincipled and intriguing French governess, who ended by entrapping and nearly destroying her pupil; to ascribe all the wretchedness that had ensued to his own failure in parental duty, and to hurl the charge of dishonor back into the teeth of the cold, hard, haughty man who had made it; but “He who ruleth his own spirit is mightier than he who taketh a city,” and Lord Montressor forbore by angry words to widen the breach between father and daughter. “God give you a more humane heart, Sir Parke,” he said. “When do you leave England?” “Within ten days,” answered the baronet. “He wishes to escape before the opening of the Assizes. Well, well, be it so! only with augmented earnestness let me pray God to purify my heart from every earthly passion, and every selfish motive, that I may be the fitter champion of His poor child, whose earthly father and mother have forsaken her,” thought Lord Montressor. Then he inquired—since they were so soon to leave England—whether he might not be permitted to pay his respects to Lady Morelle. But the baronet prayed that he would excuse her ladyship, who had not yet recovered the severe shock her nerves had sustained in this affair. Lord Montressor then left his compliments and best wishes for Lady Morelle, and arose and took leave. Worldly pride was the governing passion of Sir Parke and Lady Morelle. Just so long as their only daughter had been an object of pride to them, they had idolized her; now, however, when reproach had fallen upon her youthful head, and she had become, though undeservedly, an object of animadversion, they were the first to reject and disown her; as had new honors, however unmerited, crowned her they would have been the first to applaud. CHAPTER IV. ESTELLE.