"You'd better see him and ask," said Mrs Gabriel, tartly. "I say again that I don't believe your explanation. Where did you get the money to pay your debts if it was not from selling the cup?" "I borrowed it," retorted Leo, after a pause. "I did not intend to tell you, but it seems I must, in order to clear my character. You would not help me, and Pratt was not ready to do so. I daresay if I had pressed him he would have helped me, but I did not think it right he should pay for my folly. I borrowed the money, if you must know, from Frank Hale." Mrs Gabriel, who had seated herself, looked at the young man indignantly. "Why will you tell these lies?" she said, trying to speak calmly. "I had an idea that Hale might have assisted you, and I went to see him. He absolutely denies that he lent you a penny." Leo looked bewildered. "He denies the debt," said he. "Why he has my acknowledgment! He gave me the three hundred pounds in gold on Sunday morning. I packed it in a Gladstone bag, and took it to London with me. There I paid it into my bank, and gave my creditors cheques for--" "In gold!" burst out Mrs Gabriel, contemptuously. "Is it likely that in these days a man would pay such a large sum otherwise than by cheque? Why, if you said notes it would be more reasonable, but gold--bah!" "I tell you he did," said Leo, now thoroughly angry. "I wondered myself at the time, and I mentioned to Sybil how inconvenient it was. I asked Hale for notes, for a cheque, he refused both, and said I must take the money as he chose to give it, or not at all. He gave it to me in three bags, each containing a hundred sovereigns. I paid that into my London bank." "Oh, I daresay you did," sneered Mrs Gabriel. "But you should have got a better price for the cup." "You still believe me guilty," cried Leo, recoiling. "I do. Hale denies that he paid you the money." "I shall see him about it to-morrow," said Leo. "He will not dare to deny what is the truth. And I leave the castle this very night, Mrs Gabriel. I shall never call you 'mother' again. You are cruel and wicked. Tell me why you hate me so." Mrs Gabriel's eyes flashed. "If I told you that--" she began, then closed her mouth and turned away. "Then you _do_ hate me?" "Yes. With all my soul!" She turned on him like a fury. "I have hated you from the moment you came into my house. All these years I have been on the point of turning you out. Go now, and never darken my doors again. I was a fool to have anything to do with you. Go! Go!" For a moment Leo stood bewildered at her furious speech. He thought she was mad, for he could not conceive why she should speak so. It was useless to talk or to remonstrate, or to seek an explanation. He looked at her for a moment, then, without a word, he walked away. In another quarter of an hour he had left the castle, bag and baggage. "Thank God!" cried Mrs Gabriel when alone. "I am rid of him at last!" CHAPTER IX A BAD REPUTATION