The following morning dawned bright and clear. Tor woke early, despite his late hours the previous evening, and woke with a joyous consciousness of being once more his own self—Torrington Torwood; no longer obliged to play a part, no longer obliged to watch his words and guard his conduct, and, above all, no longer forced to act towards Maud as if he were merely an affectionate brother. With intense satisfaction Tor awoke to the fact that his task was done; and as he lay and considered the events of the past months, he thought to himself that, on the whole, it had been well done. Things at Ladywell were on a very different footing now, from what they had been three months back. Then Mr. Belassis had had considerable influence in all affairs which concerned his nephew’s property; he knew exactly what was done upon the estate, and how it was done. He had, during a brief period, managed all the buying and selling, and regulated the expenditure of the household and farms. Maud was all but engaged to marry his son, and did not attempt to deny that, had no strong hand held her back, she would most likely have pledged herself to do so. Now, all idea of this marriage had been abandoned, and Mr. Belassis had gradually sunk into a very different position from the one he had formerly occupied in reference to the Ladywell property. Firmly and quietly Tor had shelved his supposed uncle, and had gradually deprived him of every opportunity of tampering with his affairs. He had not quarrelled with him, had not openly told him that he thought him a knave and a fool both; but he had conveyed to him in a hundred different forms the suggestion that he had much better mind his own business. He had soon found that when he and the bailiff had the buying and selling to manage, the profits were much larger and the expenses less heavy. Belassis had been making a pretty profit out of the transactions he had carried on for three months, and was evidently hoping that his nephew would leave a good deal of responsibility in his hands still. Phil might have done so, as Tor was fully aware. Phil was good-tempered, easy-going, and perfectly innocent of all malice or resentment. Anybody could get round Phil, who was a true Debenham in his dislike for ‘a row’ and his distaste for trouble; and any couple so unscrupulous as Mr. and Mrs. Belassis would soon have had him quite in their power.