"Oh, please no, dearest. I have no chaperon, you see, and it might look queer. Besides, I don't want to meet a lot of people, and have to explain things. I would much prefer to stay here _incognita_. Dear Mrs Godwin is quite a motherly old soul, and knows nothing of what is going on in the great world except what she learns from the newspapers. And I am not so far off, after all. You can come and see me sometimes." "Every day, darling," cried Rossett. On reflection, he was inclined to think that, under the very peculiar circumstances, Isobel's course of action was the right one. If she blossomed forth at a fashionable hotel, a great deal would have to be explained. In a censorious and conventional world, young women, however pure in heart, cannot afford to be adventurous. As they sat on the sofa, she told him at great length of her visit to Ticehurst Park, and the Earl's consent to their engagement, of his endeavour to get her to use her influence to lure Guy from his post, of her refusal, in which she had been staunchly supported by her father. She had told him briefly of this at the funeral, but he had been so pressed for time that she had only supplied him with the barest details. "The old dad, he was always great at a bargain, but this time you got the better of him, my darling." Then he put his hand in his breast pocket, and drew forth a letter. "By Jove, I had very nearly forgotten--a letter received this morning from that dear old Aunt Henrietta. I won't read you all of it, there are yards, but I'll just run through a passage that concerns us." This was the passage he read. "I hear a great deal from Mary, who as you know is a most indefatigable correspondent, about your fiancee, Isobel Clandon. She describes her as a most sweet and lovable girl. There were always the two types in the Rossett family, the practicable and the romantic. You, Mary, and myself belong to the latter. I married for love, Mary would have done, and you are going to. "I hear also your post is rather a dangerous one, and that they have tried to get you recalled, but that you will not hear of it. Well, I admire your spirit and sense of duty. Still, as soon as you can retire with honour, do so. "Now that your father has given his consent, there is nothing to wait for. I shall make the way easy for you, as I have always tried to do. Bring your Isobel to see me at the first opportunity. I am longing to make her acquaintance." "What a darling!" cried Isobel enthusiastically. "Well, anyway, there are three dear people in the present Rossett family, your Aunt, Mary, and yourself. And Lord Saxham is not so bad after all." In her happiness she freely forgave the old gentleman his former hostility, his attempt to drive a bargain with her. "No, he's by no means so bad, when you get to know him, to pierce through the crust as it were. He is a sort of cross between the practical and romantic Rossetts," said Guy.