"I am utterly worn out," she said frankly, "and yet I am glad I came to London. You can't tell how much good it is doing me. Strange as it may seem, I am quite happy, and all the more so because I am fighting for the good of other people. Hitherto, I have never thought of anybody but myself. As you know, I came up to London with an idea of getting my own living. I was going to be very proud and independent. I had a vague idea that being a Dashwood would make the ground clear for me. I blush now to think of my ignorance and folly. But I am wandering from the point. You will recollect that Mr. Darnley offered to ask a friend of his in London to assist me. "I refused the offer, of course, in my stupid way. But Connie Colam met me at Victoria. What I should have done without her, goodness knows. She was kindness itself to me. And in a very short time we became fast friends. Fancy me, _me_, giving my heart to a girl who lives in Bloomsbury, and gets her living by doing horrible drawings for a low-class paper!" "It seems strange," Lady Dashwood murmured, "I hope that she is----" "My dear, Connie is a lady. Oh, if you only knew how my eyes have been opened! And there is another girl, a lady, too, called Grace Cameron. But you are going to meet them and satisfy yourself that I am not degrading the great house of Dashwood. Grace Cameron is an invalid, and last night we stayed at her house very late finishing some work for her. We did not get home till past two in the morning. What do you think of that for a Dashwood?" Lady Dashwood could not repress a smile. It seemed very dreadful and unconventional, but there was a glad, tender ring in Mary's voice that the elder lady liked. "We walked home through the streets at that hour," Mary went on, "and when we reached our rooms the house was empty. Everything had gone! And that brings me to the cause of my presence here at this moment. Our landlady was Mrs. Speed, the woman who has just moved in here. She had got into trouble over her rent; she was afraid that her furniture was going to be sold up, and when we were out last night she had taken everything away. No doubt the poor woman was half distracted, but it was a cruel thing to do with us. She might have given us a hint. She might have left our belongings behind. But she didn't and there we were bereft of everything that we possessed in the world at two o'clock in the morning." "Oh, my darling," Lady Dashwood cried, "what did you do then?" "There was nothing to do. We had very little money and nowhere to go. So, as it was a fine night, we slept on the Thames Embankment and breakfasted at a coffee stall in the morning. Mary Dashwood sleeping in the streets! Fancy it! Today I discovered where Mrs. Speed had gone, and I am here to demand the return of our goods and chattels. But I can quite understand why you are here." "What do you mean?" Lady Dashwood faltered.