"Sir Vincent Dashwood. Oh, there is no mistake about it. I saw him as plainly as I see you at this moment. He had called at Keppel Terrace to threaten and bully. It seems that he had had all Mrs. Speed's savings. And he told her that if he could have that particular letter he would let her have as much money as she needed. She spoke then of the danger in which she stood in regard to her rent. She was going to see the agent of the property the same day. Probably he would not wait any longer, and hence the sudden flitting in the night. What does it all mean, Lady Dashwood? Why should this Sir Vincent want that letter? And how much longer are we all going to remain under the tyranny of that man?" Lady Dashwood made no reply. There was a sound of voices close by, and in one of them Mary recognised the querulous tones of Mrs. Speed. "Go and see her," Mary said, "I will wait here. But please do not disclose my identity. And when you have finished, wait in the street for me. My business with Mrs. Speed will not take long. After that, I want you to come and see my new friends, I want you to know what manner of life I am living. There are other things that I shall want to know too, but they will keep for the present." CHAPTER XLIV. THE DREARY WAY Mary's patience was fairly well tried before she had an opportunity of seeing Mrs. Speed. She heard the latter cry out in astonishment at the sight of Lady Dashwood; she heard the two take their way up the uncarpeted stairs; she could hear restless footsteps overhead. It was quite an hour before they came down. Mary could not quite hear what was passing, but she heard enough to know that Mrs. Speed was in tears. The tears gave way to a sullen red as Mary came out of the dining-room. She said nothing as the girl beckoned her into the room and shut the door. "We need not waste any time," Mary said, "you will guess what I came for." "Who told you where to find me?" was the terrified question in a whisper. "You don't mean to say that in Keppel Terrace they know already----" "I am not concerned as to what Keppel Terrace knows or thinks," Mary said coldly. "I came back to our rooms last night very late with Miss Colam. To our great surprise and consternation we found the house empty. Our own things had gone with the rest. You might have left them, as they did not belong to you. Miss Colam, who has had more experience in the seamy side of life than I have, says that this midnight flitting is quite usual with a certain class of people. She gave me an experience of a friend of hers, but in that case her belongings were left behind. What did you suppose that we were going to do?" The woman shook her head sullenly. With her wider knowledge of the world she seemed to think that she had an easy prey in Mary.