But whether such a confession would have been to the advantage of herself and Gerard is, perhaps, open to question. And it was some inkling of the enormous difficulty of her position in this respect which acted even more powerfully than her sense of dignity in enabling Audrey to control her emotions, and to retire abruptly from the contest. There was nothing left to Lord Clanfield but to withdraw, with such conventional words of thanks as he could muster for her promise to refuse admittance to his sons. She bowed without a word, and the painful interview came to an abrupt end. Audrey was left in a state bordering on stupefaction. Before her on the table lay her letter to Mr. Candover, not yet put into its envelope. She took it up mechanically, read it, and wished she had handed it to Lord Clanfield. At least he would have seen then how anxious she was to get away from this place, how angry she was at the scenes which had taken place there. But on the other hand, the letter would have been an acknowledgment that there had been scenes of a disagreeable kind; and, though the viscount would have seen that she had influential friends, as Mr. Candover was a man well known in society, Audrey reflected, with a pang of bitterness, that the men friends of an unprotected woman, however influential they may be, are not looked upon as witnesses to character. And, realising that her complaints to Mr. Candover, however well founded and however passionate, would in all probability be met by him with his usual soothing assurances that she was very well off, and that she ought to take the drawbacks of her position with philosophy, Audrey tore up the letter, and wrote another, not to him, but to the only woman friend who knew of at least one and the greatest of her troubles. This was Mrs. Webster, a kindly, honest-hearted woman, of mature age, yet not too old as to have lost touch with life and society, and one upon whose goodness of heart she knew that she could rely. This was what she said:-- “Dear Mrs. Webster, “I know you are away, so I am sending this letter to your flat to be forwarded, for I want you to come and see me as soon as you are back in town. I have taken this place for two months, one of which has now expired, I am happy to say. You don’t know that I’ve taken a business under the name of ‘Madame Rocada,’ and though I hate the name and mean to give it up, you had better direct to me by it, as it is the only one I am known by here. I am so terribly lonely, and am in a position of great difficulty for want of some one to advise me, so please, please come and see me as soon as ever you return to town. “Yours most sincerely, “Audrey.” She got an answer almost by return of post, to say that Mrs. Webster was already back in town and would come to “The Briars” on the following day.