The nurse had gone now; her services were no longer required. And tomorrow the doctor had told Ralph that he could walk across the park if he liked. The next day was a wet one, however, so there was no opportunity. The third day broke gloriously fine, and Ralph came down to breakfast, a little pale and shaky, but almost himself again. Lady Dashwood was reading the paper with a grave face. It was not until the meal was over that she drew Ralph aside. "I am going to speak freely to you," she said. "It is a strange thing that you have never asked if we had found anything out about your accident." "I was waiting for you to speak," Ralph said. "As for myself, I remember nothing. The night I was dining at the Hall, Mayfield gave me a cigar. Almost as soon as I reached the open air, I became so drowsy that I could have fallen down and gone to sleep. A sudden pain darted through my head, and I recollected no more till I came to myself here, and found that Mary was on her knees by the side of my bed. Did I dream that, or did Mary come then and say that she loved me? It was only for a few minutes that I was conscious." "I have no doubt that _that_ was real enough," Lady Dashwood smiled tenderly. "Mary did rush up to your room, and a fine scolding she got from the nurse for it. But you can settle all that with our dear girl later. Let us get one thing over at a time. You have not the slightest idea who made that attack on you?" Ralph confessed that such was the case, and Lady Dashwood proceeded to enlighten him. She told Ralph everything that she had gleaned for herself, and that Slight had acquainted her with. Ralph's face was very grave and stern as he listened to the story. "A very pretty plot," he said. "I can see it all quite clearly now. It was invented by Mayfield. It never occurred to me till now that Mayfield guessed who I was. You see he had seen my father. Very lately Mayfield had been in dire need of money. _I_ had seen to that. He could guess why I stood aside and let it appear as if Speed was the heir of the property; he could see that I did this to save Mary, knowing that I could stop it later and claim my own. But this gave Mayfield a chance to blackmail Speed whilst he had a grip on the family exchequer. After that was done, Speed could go hang, as far as Mayfield was concerned. The whole thing was spoiled by my chance meeting with Speed in his mother's house. She could tell him who I really was. Hence the plot that nearly killed me. Perhaps I have been a little bit too clever. If ever I come across my friend Vincent Speed again----"