"Quite, Lady Dashwood. As surely as I am standing here before you, I can prevent this hateful marriage. I can prevent it even if Mary tries to thwart me. But I must have her decision from her own lips first. I am going to be very cruel to be very kind in the long run. And whatever happens, I am going to ask you to trust me implicitly. Even if things look very dark for us all, you are not to lose your faith. Remember, if events seem to point to the triumph of one who is hateful to you, it is all being done with one end in view. Now promise." "My dear boy, I promise freely. When you look at me with those brown eyes and speak to me with that voice from the other side of the grave, I could promise you anything. I feel that you have come to save me; that my life is destined to end in peace. But I am afraid that Mary is going to suffer yet." "Oh, she is," Ralph said almost sternly. "It is good for her that she should suffer. But I shall have no fear for the result after she is tried in the furnace. Maybe I am no better than a Quixotic fool, but I have my aim clear before me. And now I must see Mary for some moments alone." "I will send her to you," Lady Dashwood murmured as she rose from the chair. "Ralph, you fill me with new hope and courage. I feel that I am going to do some good with the remainder of my life yet. But do not be too hard on the child, remember that she is more or less what I have made her. And may she listen to the voice of reason!" It was a little time later that Mary came in. She looked white and weary; her eyes had a metallic gleam in them. All the same, she flushed under Ralph's steady gaze. She murmured something to the effect that she had no idea Lady Dashwood was not there. "Never mind about Lady Dashwood for the present," Ralph said. "In fact, I asked her to leave us together for a time. I have something important to say to you, Mary. Come out on the terrace with me." It was not so much a request as a command and Mary felt the hot blood rising to her face. And yet she could not decline coldly with Ralph's eyes on hers. He seemed to possess some magnetic influence over her. Without a word they passed side by side out on to the terrace. It was a perfect night, with a full moon swinging high overhead. In the distance the silver light played on the roofs and chimneys of the Hall. Ralph stood in rapt contemplation of the scene for a moment. "It is absolutely perfect," he said. "A good old house in a grand old English landscape. And for three hundred years a Dashwood has reigned here. Truly a thing to swell the heart with honest pride. No wonder you are fond of it, Mary; no wonder you would make any sacrifice to retain possession of it. But the price is too heavy. Tomorrow you must send Horace Mayfield about his business." "It is too late," Mary said coldly. "I have made up my mind. Other women have made far heavier sacrifices than this. And I shall get used to it."