miss. Come to see you almost as soon as you left. She's
waiting in the parlour."

Cecil! Claire hardly knew if she were sorry or relieved. It would be a
blessing to have some one to whom she could speak, but, on the other
hand, what poor Cecil had to say would not fail to be depressing. She
went slowly down the passage, taking a grip over her own courage, opened
the door, and stood transfixed.

In the middle of the hard horsehair sofa sat Mrs Fanshawe herself, her
elaborately coiffured, elaborately attired figure looking
extraordinarily out of place in the prim bareness of the little room.
Her gloved hands were crossed on her lap, she sat ostentatiously erect,
her satin cloak falling around her in regal folds; her face was a trifle
paler than usual, but the mocking light shone in her eyes. At Claire's
entrance she stood up, and crossed the little room to her side.

"My dear," she said calmly, "I am an obstinate old woman, but I have the
sense to know when I'm beaten. I have come to offer my apologies."

A generous heart is quick to forgive. At that moment Claire felt a pang
indeed, but it came not from the remembrance of her own wrongs, but from
the sight of this proud, domineering woman humbling herself to a girl.
Impulsively she threw out both hands, impulsively she stopped Mrs
Fanshawe's lips with the kiss which she had refused at parting.

"Oh, stop! Please don't! Don't say any more. I was wrong, too. I
took offence too quickly. You were thinking of me, as well as of
yourself."

"Oh, no, I was not," the elder woman corrected quietly. "Neither of
you, nor your friend, my dear, though I took advantage of the excuse.
You came between me and my plans, and I wanted to get you out of the
way. You saw through me, and I suppose I deserved to be seen through.
It's an unpleasant experience, but if it's any satisfaction to you to
know it, I've been _well_ punished for interfering. Erskine has seen to
my punishment."

The blood rushed to Claire's face. How much did Mrs Fanshawe know?
Had Erskine told her of that hurried interview upon the station? Had he
by any possibility told what he had _asked_? The blazing cheeks asked
the question as plainly as any words, and Mrs Fanshawe replied to it
without delay.

"Oh, yes, my dear, I know all about it. It was because I guessed that
was coming that I wanted to clear the coast; but it appears that I was
too late. Shall we sit down and talk this out, and for