“I will make you a rich woman. I will place you and your mother beyond want. I will give you a position in the world that you could not dream you would ever occupy. I’ll do something more.” He came closer to her, and before she realised what he was doing he had gripped her shoulders. “I will clear your mother’s name--I can’t give her back the years she has spent in prison----” She drew back out of his grasp. “No!” she said. “I’m sorry, but I can’t. It may be true--all these things you say--but I can’t marry you, Mr. Praye, and I--I don’t believe you. My mother is in prison.” “Your mother is in this house.” He strode to the door and, pulling it open, called the doctor by name. “Bring down Mrs. Pinder,” he said. The girl stood at the farther end of the room, her hands clasped together, waiting, hoping, yet not daring to hope. She heard a light step on the stair, again the door opened and the woman came in. One glance at that serene face was sufficient. In another second they were in one another’s arms, and the girl was sobbing on her mother’s breast. For a minute there was silence in the room, and only the murmured endearments of the older woman interrupted. Then Mrs. Pinder held the girl at arm’s length and looked into her tear-stained face. “My little Lois!” she said softly. “It hardly seems possible.” Lois tried to speak. “And have you come to take me away?” Watching the girl, Chesney saw her nod, and his hopes bounded as he introduced himself. “I am Chesney Praye,” he said awkwardly, “a--a friend of Miss Reddle.” “Reddle? Then Mrs. Reddle gave you her name?” She looked at Chesney. “When do we go?” she asked. “As soon as certain conditions are fulfilled. Will you leave us, Mrs. Pinder?” The woman’s eyes fell upon the girl. Gathering her in her arms, she kissed her tenderly. Chesney, in his feverish anxiety, almost tore them apart in his urgency. He closed the door upon Mrs. Pinder and came back to the girl. “Well?” he said. “I told you the truth?” She nodded. “And you’ll do this?” “Marry you?” She shook her head. “But you told your mother you would!” he said furiously. “You know what it means, don’t you, if you refuse?” “I can’t, I can’t! How can I marry you, Mr. Praye? You’re engaged to the Countess of Moron----” He interrupted her with an oath. “Never mind about the countess! You know what I’m doing for you, don’t you? I’m saving your life, I’m giving you your mother----” She looked past him at the closed door. “I can’t!” she said helplessly. “How can you ask me to decide? I--I don’t know you, you must give me time.” “I’ll give you as much time as it will take you to sign this paper.” He pulled out a sheet of foolscap from his pocket and laid it on the table. “What is that?” she said. “It’s an agreement. You needn’t trouble to read it. Just put your signature here, and I’ll bring in the doctor to witness it.”