The Squire groaningly interrupted her: "Yes, I have lost it, worse luck, my dear. The land has gone, and my income will be diminished to eight hundred. Yes, I admit that bad luck. And the weather is really terrible too," he added, looking at the streaming window-pane. "It so rarely rains here, yet it has poured ever since my accident." "And before then," Patricia reminded him. "The rain, by making the road slippery, caused your accident. If I were you, Mr. Colpster, I would send back the jewel to Japan with Count Akira. He is quite right: the good luck it brought to your family centuries ago has changed to bad." "How can you believe in such rubbish!" groaned the Squire, hugging his gem. "You believe in it," said Miss Carrol, wondering at his want of logic, "or you would let the Mikado Jewel go." "The luck will change now," insisted Colpster, trying to persuade himself into a kindly belief. "Everything will come right." "I hope so," said Patricia, poking the bedroom fire, before which she was kneeling. "You must write and tell me if it does." The Squire sat up in bed and gasped. "Write and tell you?" "Yes. I am going away." "Nonsense! Why should you go away?" "Mr. Colpster," said Patricia, who had brought the conversation round to this point that she might thoroughly explain herself, "you have been very good to me, and I have been very happy here. But your nephew Theodore has been rude to me; in fact, he has insulted me; so I cannot remain under the same roof with him." "What?" the Squire's scanty hair bristled and he trembled with rage. "Has that dog of a Theodore been rude? He shall leave my house at once." "No. That would not be fair. He is your nephew. I shall go." "I shan't let you go, child. I love you too much to let you go. How did he insult you--what did he say? Tell me and I'll--I'll----" Rage choked his further utterance, and he sank back on his pillows. His nurse came forward and smoothed the bedclothes. "Don't worry over the matter, Mr. Colpster. It's not worth it." "It's worth everything when you want to leave. How did Theodore insult you?" Patricia looked down and sketched out figures with the tip of her bronze shoe. "He is angry because I am engaged to Basil." Colpster flung himself forward and caught her wrist. His sunken eyes filled with angry fire. "You are not engaged to Basil?" he said fiercely. "But I am. Leave go my wrist, Mr. Colpster, or I shall go away at once." He still held her tightly. "You shan't marry Basil. You shall marry me." Patricia was greatly indebted to the old man, as she had admitted, and was sorry for his misplaced passion. But she was also a woman, with a woman's feeling, and did not intend to allow him to dictate to her. With a dexterous twist, she freed herself from his grip and retreated to a safe distance. "If you behave like this, I shall leave the room and never enter it again," she exclaimed, angry at his want of self-control.