“Grace,” he said, with his highest distinction of manner, “my mother sends you her love and her congratulations on our approaching marriage. She begs you to accept, as part of your bridal dress, these pearls. She was married in them herself. They have been in our family for centuries. As one of the family, honored and beloved, my mother offers them to my wife.” He lifted the necklace to clasp it round Mercy’s neck. Julian watched her in breathless suspense. Would she sustain the ordeal through which Horace had innocently condemned her to pass? Yes! In the insolent presence of Grace Roseberry, what was there now that she could _not_ sustain? Her pride was in arms. Her lovely eyes lighted up as only a woman’s eyes _can_ light up when they see jewelry. Her grand head bent gracefully to receive the necklace. Her face warmed into color; her beauty rallied its charms. Her triumph over Grace Roseberry was complete! Julian’s head sank. For one sad moment he secretly asked himself the question: “Have I been mistaken in her?” Horace arrayed her in the pearls. “Your husband puts these pearls on your neck, love,” he said, proudly, and paused to look at her. “Now,” he added, with a contemptuous backward glance at Grace, “we may go into the library. She has seen, and she has heard.” He believed that he had silenced her. He had simply furnished her sharp tongue with a new sting. “_You_ will hear, and _you_ will see, when my proofs come from Canada,” she retorted. “You will hear that your wife has stolen my name and my character! You will see your wife dismissed from this house!” Mercy turned on her with an uncontrollable outburst of passion. “You are mad!” she cried. Lady Janet caught the electric infection of anger in the air of the room. She, too, turned on Grace. She, too, said it: “You are mad!” Horace followed Lady Janet. _He_ was beside himself. _He_ fixed his pitiless eyes on Grace, and echoed the contagious words: “You are mad!” She was silenced, she was daunted at last. The treble accusation revealed to her, for the first time, the frightful suspicion to which she had exposed herself. She shrank back with a low cry of horror, and struck against a chair. She would have fallen if Julian had not sprung forward and caught her. Lady Janet led the way into the library. She opened the door--started--and suddenly stepped aside, so as to leave the entrance free. A man appeared in the open doorway.