"You see." He tugged viciously at a strap and then stood erect, facing the girl. "I am going, Cicely. I am leaving the house to-night. I am never coming back." With a low cry she threw herself into her brother's arms, and her sobs broke out anew. It was a long while before Mostyn could comfort her. At last he dragged her down on to a sofa by his side, and explained to her that it was for the best that he should go. Luckily the thought of money and how he should work for himself in the future did not seem to occur to the girl; her grief was solely for the loss of her brother, the only one in the household with whom she was in sympathy. "It'll be all right, dear," he whispered. "You've got Pierce; and when you are married-- She started from him, appalled by a new terror. "When we are married!" she cried; then, her voice shaking with anxiety, "Will Pierce and I ever be married, Mostyn? I--I never thought of it before, but father knows that it was Pierce who took you to the Derby. He won't forgive him either. He will break off the engagement! and I--oh, what will become of me?" Her sobs broke anew, and this time she refused to be consoled. CHAPTER V. MOSTYN REALISES HIS POSITION. Poor Cicely was still in tears when Mostyn kissed and left her; but he had been able to show her the necessity of avoiding any further scene, and he had promised to see Pierce that very evening and tell him all that had happened. "Pierce won't give you up, sis," he had comforted her. "Whatever happens you may be quite sure of that." "But his father didn't like our engagement," she had sobbed. "I know he only gave way because Pierce was so much in love. And now he knows that my father objects-- "You don't know yet that father will object," Mostyn had interrupted. "For my part, I should think it most unlikely. The Trelawnys are wealthy people, and Pierce will come in for a great deal of money some day. And father loves gold," he added bitterly. Mostyn had decided to spend that night at one of the big hotels in Northumberland Avenue. On the next day he would look out for cheap lodgings, and when he got settled Cicely could send him the rest of his belongings. In the meanwhile, should there be a letter for him the next morning--he was thinking of Anthony Royce's promise to write--would Cicely forward it to him at the hotel? This having been settled, Mostyn, carrying his bag, made his way down to the hall, whistled for a cab, and drove away from the house without any interference with his actions. A new life was about to dawn for him.