And he took Violet's hand and kissed it, with a delicate grace that was courtly in him. Sharpe was announced. Mrs. Mordaunt sent Jenny away in a maid's escort, and Violet knew that her hour of final yielding was near. She still held the certificates. "Am I to keep these?" she asked, while her mouth quivered slightly. She was thinking, thinking, all the time, of David and Dibbin and of the queer collapse of Gwendoline which made that little Cockney woman her companion. But what plea could she urge now? She could only ask for a few days' respite, just to clear away some lingering doubts, and then--But, for mother's sake, no protests now, nor tears, nor questions. Sharpe's ferret eyes took in the altered situation. Yesterday's clouds had passed. A glance from Van Hupfeldt brought him to business. There was a marriage settlement of five thousand pounds _per annum_, to be increased to twice the amount in the event of widowhood--and Sharpe explained the legal proviso that Violet was to be free to marry again, if so minded, without forfeiting any portion of this magnificent yearly revenue. "Most generous!" Mrs. Mordaunt could not help saying, and even the girl herself, miserable and drooping as a caged thrush, knew that Van Hupfeldt was showing himself a princely suitor. "And now follows a somewhat unusual document," said Sharpe in his brisk legal way. "Mr. Van Hupfeldt has instructed me to prepare a will, leaving all his real and personal estate to Miss Violet Mordaunt, he being confident that she will faithfully carry out certain instructions of his own. Of course, this instrument will have a very brief life. Marriage, I may explain, Miss Mordaunt, invalidates all wills previously executed by either of the parties. Hence, it is intended only to cover the interregnum, so to speak, between to-day's bachelordom and the marriage ceremony of--er--" "Of this day week?" asked Van Hupfeldt, eagerly. "Be it so," said Violet, for she had a plan in her mind now, and whatever happened, a week's grace was sufficient. "Mrs. Mordaunt and I are appointed trustees _pro tem_ for the purposes of the marriage settlement," went on Sharpe. "Mr. Van Hupfeldt will, of course, execute a fresh will after marriage. All we need now are two witnesses for various signatures. My clerk, who is waiting in the hall, will serve as one." "The girl, Sarah Gissing, who was here just now, might be called in," said Mrs. Mordaunt. "No, no!" cried Van Hupfeldt. "She is a stranger. After to-day she vanishes from our lives. Please summon one of your own servants--the housekeeper, or a footman." So Violet and Van Hupfeldt and Mrs. Mordaunt and the witnesses signed their names on various parchments at places where the lawyer had marked little crosses in pencil.