With a dash of her pen Dora affixed her own name underneath, and then returned the document to Mr. Ellerton. He placed it carefully in his pocket, and then rising, bade the ladies a polite “good-morning” and retired, sad and disappointed, from the room. Our poor stricken lamb, utterly overcome by the restraint she had imposed upon herself, again fell lifeless to the floor. She soon revived, however, and resumed her cold, calm exterior; refusing all sympathy, and forbidding the subject to be mentioned. CHAPTER XVII. “WE SHALL SEE!” That same evening found Ralph Moulton and his uncle again seated in their room at the inn, engaged in earnest conversation, while the same eager listener, Ronald Edgerton, was within the closet, to devour every word that fell from the two plotters’ lips. “I tell you things don’t work just as I want them to, Ralph,” said the old man, discontentedly. “Why?” asked Ralph. “Because the old fellow does not seem to mind the young one’s disappearance very much. He seems to take it as a matter of course, that, if his son did not wish to meet the young lady, he should take himself off. I saw him just after he had received your cunning forgery, or at least within a couple of hours after, and he was as calm as a clock. It would have done me good to have seen him rave and tear a little.” “I guess he’ll rave and tear enough when I demand my rights, which I intend to do to-morrow,” replied the nephew, with a touch of bitterness. His uncle did not reply at once. He did not like to have Ralph quite so eager about this claim. When he had told him his history—or rather when he had invented this abominable lie, in order to make him a willing tool to further his own evil designs—he had hoped to be able, by promising him his whole fortune, to make him give up the idea of claiming Ellerton as his father. But he was determined to prove that he had a legal claim to that name. And the squire blamed himself now for twitting him so much about his obscure birth. Another thing troubled him greatly. He had not anticipated meeting Mr. Ellerton in Germany. His plan had been to ruin the son, blast all his prospects in life, and then return and try to destroy the father. While Mr. Ellerton was in the country, he knew he could do nothing with Robert without exciting suspicion, unless—— A bright idea struck him here, and his evil face lighted with a fiendish triumph. He reasoned that his enemy had probably disposed of most of his property on leaving his native land, intending to spend several years traveling with his son. In that case he would have most of it in gold with him, or if not in the coin itself, something equivalent in value to show for it.