not try to please her in the least. He liked Bertha
Keys because all apparently amiable people suited him, and Bertha
certainly did look distinctly amiable. Soon she got into his confidence,
and he talked of his future. He wanted to go into the army, as his
father had done before him. Bertha suggested that he should tell his
desire to Mrs. Aylmer. This Maurice Trevor would not think of doing. He
spent a week, a fortnight, a month with the widow, and went back to his
mother, having secured a great deal more than he bargained for in the
course of his visit.

Mrs. Aylmer now wrote to Mrs. Trevor, said that she liked Maurice very
much, that she had no heir to leave her money to, and that if Maurice
really turned out quite to her satisfaction she would make him her
future heir. He must live with her during the holidays; he must give up
his mother's society, except for a very short time in the year; he must
be thoroughly well educated; must, on no account, enter the army; and
must have a University education.

These terms, generous in themselves, were eagerly accepted by the all
but penniless widow. She had some difficulty, however, in persuading
young Trevor to, as he expressed it, sell his independence. In the end
her wishes prevailed. He went to Trinity College, Cambridge, took
honours there, and now at four-and-twenty years of age was to a certain
extent his own master, and yet was more tied and fettered than almost
any other young man he knew. To tell the truth, he hated his own
position. Mrs. Aylmer was capricious; she considered that he owed her
undying gratitude: that he should only do what she wished. He had little
or no control of her affairs, Bertha Keys being the true mistress.

At the time when this story opens he felt that he could scarcely stand
his silken fetters any longer.

* * * * *

Bertha, as she stood now in the moonlit window of her little room at the
"Crown and Garter," thought over Maurice Trevor, his future prospects,
and his past life. She also thought about Florence.

"From the way he spoke to-night," thought this astute young woman,
"very, very little would make him fall in love with Florence. Now, that
is quite the very last thing to be desired. It would be a sort of
revenge on Mrs. Aylmer, but it cannot be permitted for a single moment.
They must not meet again. There are several reasons against that. In the
first place, it would not suit my convenience. I m