She flashed bitterly out of her passive disgust. "This marriage, was it of my seeking? Did I not entreat you not to force me? I had my own plans then--then I might have been happy, but you were possessed with your pride--you bought me a husband who laughs at both of us; who were you or I to manage a noble, he fooled us both;" she rose suddenly--"do not come to me now with reproaches, you flung me among people who despised me, tied me to a man I never had even a passing liking for. _I_ am not going to endeavour to prevent him from spending your money. It was your bargain, you and he can settle it, my father." With that she gave him a look of wild unhappy hatred that cowed his rising fury. "Ye are certainly mad," he muttered. "Perhaps I am," answered the Countess. "Look then I do not commit madness; I suppose ye would sooner have me indifferent, than desperate." "What cause have ye to be desperate?" he demanded. She smiled scornfully. "I am unhappier than you have it in you to realise," she said; "but I am sick of this talk." Mr. Hilton looked at her keenly. "Where is the Earl?" "I do not know." She sank into the chair before the dressing-table. Honoria Pryse crept in timidly from the inner door. "The hairdresser, my lady." Mr. Hilton looked from one woman to another, set his lips, and left them in silence. Mistress and maid exchanged a quick glance; the Countess snatched up the letter from Selina Boyle and concealed it in her bosom as the hairdresser bowed himself into the chamber. CHAPTER III THE BROTHERS With a curious sense of uneasiness, Marius Lyndwood, entering his brother's drawing-room, saw the Countess there, alone. It was about five of the clock and the gorgeous chamber was full of sunshine. The Countess sat by the window teasing a crimson and green macaw that swung in an ebony ring; she wore a black and white striped dress and a muslin fichu edged with glittering silver ribbon. She did not rise to greet him. "Good afternoon, Captain Lyndwood," she said, and continued to busy herself with the parrot; he hesitated a moment, then crossed the room to kiss her hand, still she did not look at him. "My lord is abroad?" he asked. The Countess lifted her shoulders. "I suppose so." Then she regarded him, covertly. "You go to Paris, Captain Lyndwood?" "I have not yet taken my resolution, madam." She smiled and rose. "You came to see my husband?" "Yes, madam." The Countess moved towards the mantelpiece. "Do you love your brother, sir?" she asked abruptly, and fixed her powerful dark eyes on him. Marius Lyndwood made an effort to meet her on her own ground. "What is your meaning in that question, madam?" "This meaning," she answered, "that I do not think you know him----" "My lord has ever done his duty by me," said Marius. "There is the point," cried the Countess. "You do not guess how he has behaved to me."