She made a gesture of despair. She could not speak; she felt that she should go mad unless she could soon get away to the quiet of her room and be released from that fearful constraint which she had imposed upon herself for so many hours. Lady Heath read something of her suffering in that wild gesture, and she laid her lips against her husband’s ear, whispering: “Dear Will, we can afford to be generous out of the abundance of our happiness.” Sir William’s face melted into infinite tenderness at her plea. He placed his arm about her waist and drew her fondly to him. “If you can plead for her, my darling, I should not be obdurate,” he murmured, tenderly; then, turning again to his sister, he added: “We will talk further of this matter to-morrow. Good-night, Miriam.” With one more stern glance at the unhappy woman, he led his beautiful wife from the room, and Lady Linton, her strength exhausted, her proud spirit crushed, sank with a moan of anguish to the floor, and there the butler found her half an hour later when he came to put out the lights. He called her maid, and together they helped her to her room, where she spent half the night in hysterics, and then, worn out, sank into a profound slumber or stupor. CHAPTER XXII. A BACKWARD GLANCE. In order to more fully comprehend the events related in the last chapter we must go back to the day following Lady Dunforth’s reception, when Mrs. Alexander’s lawyer, Mr. Thurston, called and held a protracted interview with her. She had consulted him soon after arriving in London, and, after gathering all the information possible regarding her history, he informed her that there would be no difficulty whatever in establishing Virgie’s claim, as a daughter of the House of Heath, and this morning he had called to tell her that he was ready to arrange a meeting with Sir William whenever she felt equal to the trial. “Must I meet him!” she asked, growing faint at the thought. “It will be best for both you and Miss Alexander to meet him at the outset, for, of course, if he is at all inclined to contest the claim, he will at once demand the proof of your identity,” Mr. Thurston replied. Mrs. Alexander felt that this would be a severer test upon her strength than she had anticipated. She did not wish to meet Sir William, and yet at the same time there was an almost uncontrollable longing in her heart to see him once more. If she could look upon him without his seeing her, it would be all she would ask; she shrank from forcing herself upon his presence. Still if it must be, she resolved to brace herself for the interview; she had determined that he should acknowledge Virgie as his child, and nothing should deter her from accomplishing her object. “Very well,” she said, “I will be governed wholly by your advice. But what is this?” she added, as he laid a paper before her.