He was groping in his waistcoat pocket, then in the tails of his bottle-green coat. He turned round and round again, like a parrot on a perch, but with none of the coolness, the audacity of a parrot. 'Very well――I go back to Axmouth at once,' said the girl. 'O Winefred!'――he remained stationary for a moment――'do not leave me! You do not know all. I cannot explain everything at once. There are many things to be considered.' 'Father, I must know what is my real name. Is it Marley, or is it Holwood?' 'Oh, do not worry and distract me. I am very ill. The doctors say that they cannot cure me――it may be long――it may be short――――' 'I am indeed sorry to leave you, dear father. But you know where at all times I may be found――with my mother.' Again the feeble man began twisting about. 'Come,' said Jesse. She let go her hold of Winefred, and caught the father, gripping both his arms and holding him fast so that he could no more revolve. 'Come, Mr. Holwood, I will shake you. Positively I will shake you to bits unless you answer Winefred. Now――――' She had him by the shoulders. 'Oh, don't, I cannot bear it.' 'Which is it?' with an initial, premonitory shake. 'I will shake your wig off.' 'Oh! don't, I am in poor health.' 'Which is it, Marley or Holwood?' 'My teeth, my teeth!' 'I will shake them out of your head. Which is it?' 'She is my――my daughter.' 'And the mother――speak plainly――what is she?' She shook him again. He gasped, he put his hand to his cravat. 'My――my wife――really, really――my lawful wife.' 'Then,' said Jesse, letting go her clutch, 'Winefred is rightly named. She is Miss Holwood.' 'Sir,' said Mrs. Tomkin-Jones with great stateliness, rising, rustling, and curtsying, 'under the painful circumstances, as your daughter says that she intends to leave at once, bear in mind that I have not received a notice of any sort――I am quite ashamed to seem mercenary――and positively I know nothing about money and business and all that sort of thing――but I have been drawn into numerous expenses to make all ready to accommodate your daughter. And I regret to say that I expect――――' 'The soup-tureen to be paid for,' threw in Sylvana. 'Certainly! certainly!' said the trembling man, 'anything, only do not retain me longer. I am very unwell, and my cravat is――is――is all on one side. I confess everything. Jane is my wife, and Winefred is my daughter. So they both have a right to my name.' CHAPTER XLVI OVER A TEA-TABLE Winefred accompanied her father to his lodgings. These were comfortable and well-situated, spacious and elegantly furnished; clearly not chosen with a view to economy. He bowed and made her enter, with old-fashioned courtesy, and then ordered tea. A certain amount of constraint existed between them, and yet he had lost much of his timidity of manner since he had been forced to avow the nature of his relation to Jane. The Rubicon was passed. He had dismissed his ships.