that. Have _I_ been gallivanting round
the country with some----"

"Stop! You are going too far. This conversation must cease here and
now. If you have any respect for yourself, though not for me, you must
adjourn the discussion till after you have met Miss Vanrenen and her
father."

For the first time in his life, the Earl of Fairholme realized his
limitations; he was actually cowed for a few fleeting seconds. But the
arrogant training of the county bench, the seignory of a vast estate,
the unquestioning deference accorded to his views by thousands of men
who tacitly admitted that what he said must be right because he was a
lord--these excellent stays of self-conceit came to his help, and he
snorted indignantly:

"I absolutely refuse to meet either of them."

"That disposes of the whole difficulty for the hour," said Medenham,
turning to leave the room.

"Wait, George.... I insist----"

Perhaps a clearer glimpse of a new and, to him, utterly unsuspected
force in his son's character withheld the imperious command that
trembled on the Earl's lips. Medenham halted. The two looked at each
other, and the older man fidgeted with his collar, which seemed to
have grown tight for his neck.

"Come, come, let us not leave a friendly argument in this unsettled
state," he said after an awkward pause. "My only thought is for your
interests, you know. Your lifelong happiness is at stake, to say
nothing of the future of our house."

"I recognize those considerations so fully that I am going now in
order to shirk even the semblance of a quarrel between us."

"Why not thresh things out? Your aunt will be here in a couple of
hours----"

"You refuse to hear a word. You argue with a hammer, sir. I shall send
a note to Lady St. Maur telling her that she has done mischief in
plenty without adding fuel to the fire by coming here to-day--unless
_you_ wish to consult her, that is?"

The Earl, already afraid of his sister, was rapidly learning to fear
his son.

"Dash it all! don't tell me you are off on this d----d motoring trip
once more?" he cried passionately.

Medenham smiled, even in his anger.

"See how willfully you misunderstand me," he said. "I came away from
Miss Vanrenen solely because matters had gone far enough under rather
absurd conditions. She knows me only as Fitzroy, the chauffeur; it is
time to drop masquerading. Romance is delightful in its way--perhaps
there might well be more of it in this commonplace wo