She listened intently, and then abused Belassis with all the force of her emphatic vocabulary. ‘What must I do?’ asked Lewis. ‘Must I denounce and ruin him?’ ‘He deserves it,’ answered Miss Marjory hotly. ‘He deserves it richly; but a man’s mother, Lewis, is his mother, and his first duty is to protect her.’ And to the son Miss Marjory breathed none of the suspicions she had formed as to the mother’s integrity. As she afterwards told Tor, she was old-fashioned enough to think that loyalty to a mother stood before every other claim. ‘Well, yes, I suppose it does,’ said Lewis gravely. ‘I can’t help feeling it myself. I’ve not been so fond of her as I ought, perhaps; but she’s my mother still, and it doesn’t seem fair that she should suffer so much for what my father has done. But I should have liked Maud to have her own.’ ‘So should I. It would be a nice little fortune for her; but I don’t see your way quite clear, though your father deserves no mercy. However, I’m glad to know that you did really mean to make restitution of what you felt did not rightly belong to you. It is much to your credit.—And so you have been making love to my young cousin, I understand, under my very nose?’ Poor Lewis flushed scarlet at this sudden and totally unexpected thrust. ‘I—I— Was it very wrong? I couldn’t help feeling——’ ‘Oh, keep your feelings for Ethel. I’m not at all interested in them. What I want to know is, what your future prospects are?’ ‘Bad, I’m afraid,’ said Lewis candidly; ‘much worse than when I began to speak to your cousin; for I’ve quarrelled with my father, and he has been playing fast and loose with his money, I suspect. But I might get something in time, if Ethel could wait. She said she would——’ ‘Oh yes, I dare say she will. She’s a faithful little puss, and very steady and affectionate. But you must look about you seriously. Have you any plans?’ Lewis shook his head; and then Miss Marjory, after putting him through an examination on his acquirements, which he got through fairly well, informed him that she would write to an old friend of hers in London, who had a publishing business of a lucrative kind, and had been meditating taking in a young partner. He was childless, and a widower to boot, and such a berth was likely to be a good one. Miss Marjory and he were old friends, and he had known Ethel’s father and mother. Lewis was delighted. Such an opening was just what he wanted, and from what he could learn from Miss Marjory, the duties were of a kind which he would be able to master without great difficulty, and would be congenial to him. His spirits rose greatly, and he overwhelmed Miss Marjory with thanks; and by her permission went in search of Ethel.