“Because I hoped, aunt, that there would be no necessity for proceeding to extremities. You now force me to acknowledge that the lawyer and the doctor (both of whom I have seen this morning) think, as you do, that she is not to be trusted. It was at their suggestion entirely that I went to the magistrate. They put it to me whether the result of my inquiries abroad--unsatisfactory as it may have been in other respects--did not strengthen the conclusion that the poor woman’s mind is deranged. I felt compelled in common honesty to admit that it was so. Having owned this, I was bound to take such precautions as the lawyer and the doctor thought necessary. I have done my duty--sorely against my own will. It is weak of me, I dare say; but I can _not_ bear the thought of treating this afflicted creature harshly. Her delusion is so hopeless! her situation is such a pitiable one!” His voice faltered. He turned away abruptly and took up his hat. Lady Janet followed him, and spoke to him at the door. Horace smiled satirically, and went to warm himself at the fire. “Are you going away, Julian?” “I am only going to the lodge-keeper. I want to give him a word of warning in case of his seeing her again.” “You will come back here?” (Lady Janet lowered her voice to a whisper.) “There is really a reason, Julian, for your not leaving the house now.” “I promise not to go away, aunt, until I have provided for your security. If you, or your adopted daughter, are alarmed by another intrusion, I give you my word of honor my card shall go to the police station, however painfully I may feel it myself.” (He, too, lowered his voice at the next words ) “In the meantime, remember what I confessed to you while we were alone. For my sake, let me see as little of Miss Roseberry as possible. Shall I find you in this room when I come back?” “Yes.” “Alone?” He laid a strong emphasis, of look as well as of tone, on that one word. Lady Janet understood what the emphasis meant. “Are you really,” she whispered, “as much in love with Grace as that?” Julian laid one hand on his aunt’s arm, and pointed with the other to Horace--standing with his back to them, warming his feet on the fender. “Well?” said Lady Janet. “Well,” said Julian, with a smile on his lip and a tear in his eye, “I never envied any man as I envy _him!_” With those words he left the room. CHAPTER XV. A WOMAN’S REMORSE. HAVING warmed his feet to his own entire satisfaction, Horace turned round from the fireplace, and discovered that he and Lady Janet were alone. “Can I see Grace?” he asked. The easy tone in which he put the question--a tone, as it were, of proprietorship in “Grace”--jarred on Lady Janet at the moment. For the first time in her life she found herself comparing Horace with Julian--to Horace’s disadvantage. He was rich; he was a gentleman of ancient lineage; he bore an unblemished character. But who had the strong brain? who had the great heart? Which was the Man of the two?