ing with profane
hands of things that had already been made sacred.

"But I do contradict it," said Margaret, stepping forward into the
room, and almost exciting admiration in Lady Ball's breast by her
demeanour. "Aunt," said she, "as this gentleman has chosen to come
here with such a story as this, I must tell you all the facts."

"Has he ever been engaged to you?" asked Lady Ball.

"Never."

"Oh, Margaret!" again exclaimed Mr Maguire.

"Sir, I will ask you to let me tell my aunt the truth. When I was at
Littlebath, before I knew that my fortune was not my own,"--as she
said this she looked hard into Mr Maguire's face--"before I had
become penniless, as I am now,"--then she paused again, and still
looking at him, saw with inward pleasure the elongation of her
suitor's face, "this gentleman asked me to marry him."

"He did ask you?" said Lady Ball.

"Of course I asked her," urged Mr Maguire. "There can be no denying
that on either side."

He did not now quite know what to do. He certainly did not wish to
impoverish the Church by marrying Miss Mackenzie without any fortune.
But might it not all be a trick? That she had been rich he knew, and
how could she have become poor so quickly?

"He did ask me, and I told him that I must take a fortnight to
consider of it."

"You did not refuse him, then?" said Lady Ball.

"Not then, but I have done so since by letter. Twice I have written
to him, telling him that I had nothing of my own, and that there
could be nothing between us."

"I got her letters," said Mr Maguire, turning round to Lady Ball. "I
certainly got her letters. But such letters as those, if they are
written under dictation--"

He was rather anxious that Lady Bell should quarrel with him. In the
programme which he had made for himself when he came to the house, a
quarrel to the knife with the Ball family was a part of his tactics.
His programme, no doubt, was disturbed by the course which events had
taken, but still a quarrel with Lady Ball might be the best for him.
If she were to quarrel with him, it would give him some evidence that
this story about the loss of the money was untrue. But Lady Ball
would not quarrel with him. She sat still and said nothing. "Nobody
dictated them," said Margaret. "But now you are here, I will tell you
the facts. The money which I thought was mine, in truth belongs to my
cousin, Mr John Ball, and I--"

So far she spoke loudly, With her face raised, and her eyes fix