He knew, even in the semi-darkness of the place, that it was Madge Barnshaw before she turned her head or spoke; something in the mere fact of her being there told him that. He would have given anything not to have met her at that time and in that place; but there was no possibility of his getting away—for she turned and saw him. She came quickly towards him and almost before he knew her hand was in his and she was looking straight into his eyes. “I wanted to see you,” she said slowly. “I waited here—strange as it may seem—in the hope that you would come.” “Would it not have been better,” he replied bitterly, “if you had never seen me at all?” She shook her head and a smile played for a moment about her lips. “That is an ungenerous thing to say,” she replied. “Surely it is right that we should meet here—in your home.” “Mine no longer,” he said. “It was sold to-day to pay some of the debts I took upon me when I took the name of Dandy Chater.” “Well—and do you know who bought it?” she asked almost in a whisper. Something in her face as she bent nearer to him, still holding his hands, seemed to answer the question without the need of any word from him. She went on rapidly. “When you first came to me, Philip, my heart was full of pity for a man who had professed his love for me often and often. Fool that I was, I never saw that a better man stood in his place—spoke with his voice—wooed me for his own sake and not because of his dead brother! Philip, you spoke just now of debts you have paid—and I know of burdens you have borne—for the sake of that brother. Philip”—she came nearer to him in the darkness—“there is another debt you must pay if you will, another burden you must bear. You have taken upon yourself the name of Dandy Chater, be Dandy Chater still to me—and love me!” He held her in his arms even while he tried to reason with his heart that it was not just nor fair. But when she thrust the deeds of the house in his hands; when she went upon her knees to him and raised her pure face to his; when she prayed that he would take the place that was his, in his home and in her heart; what could he say? In effect it was all summed up clearly and fairly that night by Mrs. Betty Siggs in the housekeeper’s room to Mrs. Dolman in a moment of confidence. “The sins as Master Dandy did ’as bin wiped out an’ nothing need be said about ’em. Mark my words, Mrs. Dolman, the time is coming when a new Dandy Chater is a goin’ to reign at the ’All—a Chater as’ll be a squire in summing more than name! An’ more than that, Mum, there won’t be no mistakes about this one; for ’e’s my dear boy, an’ there ain’t another like ’im in the wide world. An’ so, Mum,”—Mrs. Siggs raised her glass before her smiling face, for they were discussing supper—“I gives yer as a toast—‘The Second Dandy Chater.’” THE END ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE