"I know something about it," said Lady Corsoon, concealing her exact knowledge and determined to appear surprised at nothing. "I received a letter stating that on certain conditions I could get the money of my brother. Whether you are my niece or not I can't say, but assuredly if the money is mine I must enter into possession of it. Of course, you may rely on my doing my best to help you." "I want nothing," said Ida, proudly lifting her head. "If the money is yours you shall certainly have it. Am I not right, Frances?" "Perfectly right. But Lady Corsoon's fortune--to use her own words with regard to you--may not be so secure as she thinks." "If Ida is not Martin's daughter, and there is no will, I should certainly inherit," cried Lady Corsoon quite fiercely. "And I confess that I am surprised to hear that my brother is not the father of the girl I have always supposed to be my niece. I should like an explanation." "You will have one to-morrow," said Miss Hest coolly. "I want one to-day," said the elder woman rapping her knuckles with her lorgnette. "What have you to do with this matter, may I ask?" "More than you suppose. But, after I have seen Colonel Towton, you shall be enlightened as to my exact position." "Frances, do you mean to say that the money is really mine?" demanded Ida with a look of breathless interest. "If it was, what would you do?" asked Miss Hest doubtfully. "I should give you all the money you required." Frances hesitated, then came forward and kissed the girl quietly. "You are a good child, Ida. I thought that I had lost your confidence." Miss Dimsdale did not contradict this statement. "I shall always remember how kind you have been to me," she said, shrinking a trifle from her friend's caress. "Nothing can make me forget the past." "Come, come," said Lady Corsoon, rising in a fussy manner. "This sort of thing will not do at all. I must understand plainly what this means. In the meantime, I request my niece to follow me to The Grange." "I am not your niece, if all I have learned is true, and I decline to be dictated to," said Ida quickly. "To-morrow I shall come to The Grange." "Will you leave me, Ida?" asked Frances quickly and with a look of pain. "For a time only," muttered the girl averting her head. "But I wish to go to Colonel Towton's to-morrow." "Many things seem about to happen to-morrow," observed Lady Corsoon walking towards the door in her most stately manner. "And as Ida refuses to obey me, I wash my hands of her. Come, Lucy. Come, Mr. Vernon. We must depart." "But the Colonel will be here shortly," protested Vernon, and Lucy took Ida's hand kindly between her own.