"If it's any consolation to you, I'm inclined to think that Miss Crestwick has let me drop. The truth's not very flattering, but I can't hide it." Mrs. Gladwyne's relief was obvious, but she had more to say and she ventured upon it with some courage. "If you would only get rid of Batley too!" "I can hardly do that just now; he's useful in several ways. Still, of course, if I married--" He broke off abruptly, for his mother had occasional flashes of discernment. "Millicent has means," she said. He started at this, wondering how much she had guessed, but he veiled his embarrassment with a smile. "Well," he acknowledged, "means, as you most wisely remarked, are not to be despised, and mine are unfortunately small." She saw that she had said enough and she left him sitting in the darkening room thinking rather hard. Bella had thrown him over when he had refused to help her brother, and there were many ways in which Millicent appealed to him. Besides, she could free him of his debt to Batley, which was a thing greatly to be desired. She had shown that she did not blame him severely for the accident at the hurdles, but he realized that in trying to comfort him she had been prompted by pity for his dejected mood, and it was clear that the part he had played was scarcely likely to raise him in her esteem. This was unfortunate, but he would not dwell on it; there were other points to consider and anything that served to divert his thoughts from the unfortunate affair was a vast relief. When at last he rose he had partly recovered his usual equanimity and had decided that he would watch for some sign of Millicent's feelings toward him. He was aware that they had somewhat changed, but this was to a large extent his fault, and with caution and patience he thought it might be possible to reinstate himself in her favor. CHAPTER XIX GLADWYNE GAINS A POINT Some weeks had passed since the accident and Lisle was lying one afternoon on a couch near a window of Nasmyth's sitting-room. Two or three Canadian newspapers lay on the floor and he held a few letters in one hand. The prospect outside was cheerless--a stretch of leaden-colored moor running back into a lowering sky, with a sweep of fir wood that had lost all distinctive coloring in the foreground. He was gazing at it moodily when Millicent came in. His face brightened at the sight of her, and he raised himself awkwardly with his uninjured arm, but she shook her head at him in reproof. "You had orders to keep as quiet as possible for some time yet. Lie down again!" "Keeping quiet is fast breaking me up," he protested. "I'm quite able to move about." "All the same, you're not to try." He looked at her with a twinkle in his eyes. "Then I suppose I'll have to give in. You're a determined person. People do what you ask them without resenting it. You have an instance here, though in a general way it's a very undignified thing to be ordered about."