Julius looked at the ring which she had thrown at his feet, and laughed. "You take a high tone," he said sneeringly. "But remember that if Bernard is dead the money goes to charities--" "So much the better. You do not get it." "Nor you either. You will have to turn out of this luxurious home and live on the pittance Sir Simon left you." "Would I be better off if I married you?" "I think you would. I have not much money now, but I will have some--a great deal some day." "By blackmailing Bernard," said Lucy, indignantly. Julius picked up the ring and slipped it into his waistcoat pocket calmly. "We don't know that Bernard is alive. But the fact of Conniston leaving the army and from Durham's attitude I shrewdly suspect he is, and in hiding. I shall find out where he is, and then it depends upon him whether he is hanged or prefers to live abroad on a portion of his money." "The lesser portion. I know the price of your silence," said Lucy, vehemently. "You will want the Hall and a large income." "All I can get," rejoined Beryl, quietly. "And you have refused to share my fortune with me." "Yes. I will have nothing to do with you. And remember that if I catch you plotting I will tell Mr. Durham." "You can tell him the whole of this conversation," snarled Beryl. "I am not afraid of Durham. If Bernard is alive, he'll have to pay up or be hanged." "He is innocent." Julius shrugged his shoulders and walked to the door. There he paused to utter a final insulting speech. "I don't know whether you intend to marry Bernard or Lord Conniston," he said, "but I wish, which ever it is, joy of a spitfire." "And an honest woman," said Miss Randolph, wrathfully, for the reference to Conniston touched her nearly; "but you go too fast. You can't yet prove that Bernard lives." "I go to do so," sneered Julius, and bowed himself ironically out of the room, leaving Lucy furious both with him and with herself. She was angry with herself because she felt that in speaking of Conniston she had colored. And as a matter of fact she greatly admired the young lord, even though they had only met once, for Conniston was one of those irresistible men who appeal to women. Lucy thought--but it matters little what she thought. All she knew was that her engagement to Julius, which had always weighed on her conscience, was at an end. "I am free now--free," she said, stretching her hands. "Oh, what an escape I have had from that wicked man. He has shown his hand too plainly. I will put Mr. Durham on his guard, and"--here she blushed--"and Lord Conniston." Julius, walking towards the Bower, was also angry with himself. As Lucy thought, he had shown his hand too clearly. "It would have been better," he considered, "to have held my tongue. I should have done so had she not goaded me into speech. She will tell Durham and that interfering Conniston and put them on their guard. Well"--he laughed and looked at the small boy trotting beside him--"I am equal to both."