"Make no objections, Mr. Jarner, for they carry no weight with me. I love now as I never loved before. You smile! You think I am too old to set my heart on him, but I tell you that I love this man fondly, and I shall marry him." "Marry him!" "Why not?" said she, pressing her hands on her heaving breast. "Do you know anything against him?" "No, indeed; still----" "Then there can be no obstacle to my union with him. He is poor, but I am rich. If he has no name of his own, he can take mine. What obstacle is there to our union?" "The greatest of all," answered Jarner, dryly; "he loves another woman." "Meg!" "Ah! you have seen as much. Yes, he loves Meg Merle, and wishes to make her his wife." "That he shall never do! Will he prefer that unformed girl to me--her poverty to my wealth? She shall not marry him. I love him, and will surrender him to no rival. Rival! Ha, is it I who call that girl a rival!" "Yes, it is you; and it were wiser if you did not. She is fond of you, Miss Linisfarne; you have brought her up; she looks on you as a mother----" "Mother!" "Yes, as a mother. So do not ruin her life, and destroy the memory of your kindness by seeking to marry this man. He is not for you, but for Meg." "I shall not give him up," she said, doggedly; "mine he shall be. Do you think that, after all these years of sorrow, I shall willingly surrender the only chance of joy that has come to me? He shall be my husband." The vicar picked up his hat as to go, and bowed. "In that case, ma'm, I need not remain. I disapprove altogether of your infatuation, and shall do my best to thwart your schemes. One woman only shall he marry,--Margaret Merle." "You seem very interested in this match," sneered Miss Linisfarne. "Is it of your making?" "No. It is his own desire." "Who is this man?" she asked, abruptly. "Do you know his name?" "I do, madam, but I shall not tell it to you." "Mr. Jarner----" "No more, ma'm! I have wasted too many words as it is. You shall not interrupt the course of true love. He is not for you, but for Meg Merle." She strove to detain him, but he strode away, deeply angered at her pertinacity. She stamped her foot, and looked at the picture of Sir Alurde. "Meg shall never marry you," she said, thinking of Dan,--"never! never! never!" CHAPTER XXIV. A WOMAN SCORNED.