statements; and she really began to feel so secure that her spirits rose
immensely and she began to be as insolent as might have been expected.

But one fine morning, as she sat in her sitting-room at the inn called
"The Dorincourt Arms," making some very fine plans for herself, Mr.
Havisham was announced; and when he entered, he was followed by no less
than three persons--one was a sharp-faced boy and one was a big young
man and the third was the Earl of Dorincourt.

She sprang to her feet and actually uttered a cry of terror. It broke
from her before she had time to check it. She had thought of these
new-comers as being thousands of miles away, when she had ever thought
of them at all, which she had scarcely done for years. She had never
expected to see them again. It must be confessed that Dick grinned a
little when he saw her.

"Hello, Minna!" he said.

The big young man--who was Ben--stood still a minute and looked at her.

"Do you know her?" Mr. Havisham asked, glancing from one to the other.

"Yes," said Ben. "I know her and she knows me." And he turned his back
on her and went and stood looking out of the window, as if the sight of
her was hateful to him, as indeed it was. Then the woman, seeing herself
so baffled and exposed, lost all control over herself and flew into
such a rage as Ben and Dick had often seen her in before. Dick grinned
a trifle more as he watched her and heard the names she called them all
and the violent threats she made, but Ben did not turn to look at her.

"I can swear to her in any court," he said to Mr. Havisham, "and I can
bring a dozen others who will. Her father is a respectable sort of man,
though he's low down in the world. Her mother was just like herself.
She's dead, but he's alive, and he's honest enough to be ashamed of her.
He'll tell you who she is, and whether she married me or not."

Then he clenched his hand suddenly and turned on her.

"Where's the child?" he demanded. "He's going with me! He is done with
you, and so am I!"

And just as he finished saying the words, the door leading into the
bedroom opened a little, and the boy, probably attracted by the sound of
the loud voices, looked in. He was not a handsome boy, but he had rather
a nice face, and he was quite like Ben, his father, as any one could
see, and there was the three-cornered scar on his chin.

Ben walked up to him and took his hand, and his own was trembling.

"Yes," he said, "I could swear to