was strangely restive and unquiet. He talked
at times of getting married, wondered whether she, Grace, wouldn't like
some one to help her in the house, and even, on one terrifying
occasion, suggested leaving Skeaton altogether. A momentary vision of
what it would be to live without Paul, to give up her kingdom in
Skeaton, to have to start all over again to acquire dominion in some
new place, was enough for Grace.

She must find Paul a wife, and she must find some one who would depend
upon her, look up to her, obey her, who would, incidentally, take some
of the tiresome and monotonous drudgery off her shoulders. The moment
she saw Maggie she was resolved; here was just the creature, a mouse of
a girl, no parents, no money, no appearance, nothing to make her proud
or above herself, some one to be moulded and trained in the way she
should go. To her great surprise she discovered that Paul was at once
attracted by Maggie: had she ever wondered at anything she would have
wondered at this, but she decided that it was because she herself had
made the suggestion. Dear Paul, he was always so eager to fall in with
any of her proposals.

Her mind misgave her a little when she saw that he was really in love.
What could he see in that plain, gauche, uncharming creature? See
something he undoubtedly did. However, that would wear off very
quickly. The Skeaton atmosphere was against romance and Paul was too
lazy to be in love very long. Once or twice in the weeks before the
wedding Grace's suspicions were aroused.

Maggie seemed to be an utter little heathen; also it appeared that she
had had some strange love affair that she had taken so seriously as
actually to be ill over it. That was odd and a little alarming, but the
child was very young, and once married-there she'd be, so to speak!

It was not, in fact, until that evening of her arrival in Skeaton that
she was seriously alarmed. To say that that first ten minutes in Paul's
study alarmed her is to put it mildly indeed. As she looked at the
place where her mother's portrait had been, as she stared at the
trembling Mitch cowering against Maggie's dress, she experienced the
most terrifying, shattering upheaval since the day when as a little
girl of six she had been faced as she had fancied, with the dripping
ghost of her great-uncle William. Not at once, however, was the battle
to begin. Maggie gave way about everything. She gave way at first
because she was so confident of get