listen to
reason," she said very seriously to him; "you must go down to
Staplegrove and tell his sisters every-thing."

"I suppose I must," he returned; but he spoke under his breath, for
this new duty filled him with dismay. He had shaken off the dust of
Staplegrove, as he believed, for ever, and the thought that he must
stand face to face with Elizabeth again turned him giddy. "I suppose in
that case I must do it," he went on. His hesitating manner made Mrs.
Godfrey look at him.

"It is the only thing to be done," she repeated firmly. "You must see
them both and tell them all Hugh Rossiter said. Dinah will be very much
upset, but Elizabeth never loses her wits; she will grasp everything in
a minute--Elizabeth has such a clear head, and she never muddles
things--and then you can hold a friendly council."

"Of course I will do what I can to help them," he replied quietly, for
he had been fully aware of Mrs. Godfrey's look; but as he sat in the
first-class compartment he told himself with some irritation that his
position was a cruel one.

"It is Carlyon who ought to be the family adviser now," he thought. "If
I could only wash my hands of this business! What a fool Cedric is to
get himself into this mess. Good lack, to think he has fallen among
thieves for the second time! The young jackanapes seems to have a
natural affinity for sharpers and swindlers. That infernal cad Jacobi!"
and here Malcolm boiled with impotent wrath as he thought of that
dastardly conspiracy to entrap a young and innocent girl. "I should
like to horsewhip him," he went on; "how is one to keep one's hands off
such a fellow! He may be a dark horse, as Rossiter says, but he will
have to reckon with me." And Malcolm straightened his shoulders with
quite a martial air, as though he were ready to fight to the death.

CHAPTER XXVIII

"THE LADY CALLING HERSELF MISS JACOBI"

Master, master! news, old news, and such news as you never
heard of!--Taming of the Shrew.

The first and worst of all frauds is to cheat oneself.--BAILEY,
Festus.

Malcolm had telegraphed to Verity to pack his Gladstone bag and send it
by special messenger to Paddington. Verity, who was accustomed to these
commissions, had fulfilled her orders with neatness and despatch, and
he found it waiting for him on his arrival at the station. It was
nearly half-past six when the spires and pinnacles of the old
collegiate city came in sight, so he drov