"You have no right to make such a remark, Percival!" exclaimed his step-mother, feebly, but she quailed beneath the sneer instead of resenting it. Elizabeth turned sharply upon her cousin. "No," she said, "you have no right to make such a remark. As you know very well, I had no friends, no money, no home, when Uncle Alfred brought me here. I was a beggar--I should have starved, perhaps--but for him. I owe him everything--and I do not forget my debt." "Everything," said Percival, incisively, "except, I suppose, your confidence." She turned away and walked up to Mrs. Heron's sofa. Here her manner changed, it became soft and womanly; her voice took a gentler tone. "What is it, Aunt Isabel?" she said. "I am ready to give you all the confidence that you wish for. I will have no secrets from you." "Oh, then, Lizzie, is it true?" said Kitty, upsetting the cat in her haste, and flying across the room to her cousin's side, while Mrs. Heron, taken by surprise, did nothing but sob helplessly and hold Elizabeth's firm, white hand in a feeble grasp. "Is it really true? Have you inherited a great fortune? Are you going to be very rich?" Elizabeth made a little pause before she answered the question. "Brian Luttrell is dead," she said at last, rather slowly. "And I am very sorry." "And the Luttrells are your cousins? And you are the heiress after them?" "Yes." "But when did you know this first?" said Kitty, anxiously looking up into her tall cousin's face. "Yes, when did you know it first?" repeated Mrs. Heron, with a weak and sighing attempt at solemnity. "I knew that I was the Luttrells' cousin all my life," said Elizabeth. There was a touch of perversity in her answer. "Yes--yes. But when did you know that you were the next heir--or heiress? You cannot have known that all your life," said Mrs. Heron. "I did not know that until a few days ago. I had a letter from a lawyer when Brian Luttrell went abroad. Mr. Brian Luttrell wished him to communicate with me and to tell me----" "Well?" said Mrs. Heron, curiously. "To tell you what?" "That it was probable that the property would come to me," Elizabeth answered, for the first time with some embarrassment, "as he did not intend to marry. And that he wished to settle a certain sum upon me--in case I might be in want of money now." "And that was a fortnight ago?" said Percival. "Yes," said Elizabeth, without looking at him, "nearly a fortnight ago." "This is very interesting," said Mrs. Heron, who was languidly brightening as she heard Elizabeth's story and recognised the fact that substantial advantages were likely to accrue to the household from Elizabeth's good fortune. "And of course you accepted the offer, Lizzie dear? But why did you not tell us at once?" "I waited until things should be settled. The matter might have fallen through. It did not seem worth while to mention it until it was settled," said Elizabeth.