e. I can assure you I am as anxious
as you are yourself, indeed more so, that no shadow of suspicion of
anything wrong should rest upon you. So do not worry yourself about it.
You can safely leave it in my hands. Now I will say good-bye. I hope
that when I return I shall find you stronger and better. I do not know
that there is any occasion for you to sign this paper I have brought."

"I would rather do so," the lawyer said, firmly. "It will be a relief to
me to know that I have at least made a full confession."

He took the document Cuthbert had drawn up, read it through carefully,
then took a pen and added at the bottom--

"The fifteen thousand pounds mentioned above as having been drawn by me
from my bank for the purpose of the mortgage, was really used for the
payment of calls on shares held by me in the Oakhurst Mining Company.
This can be established by a reference to the accounts of that company
in the hands of the liquidator."

He then signed his name and handed the paper to Cuthbert.

In spite of the efforts the latter made to hurry on Messrs. Barrington
and Smiles, it was nearly three weeks before the deed of gift was
prepared. It had, in the first place, been sketched out by Cuthbert,
with the assistance of James Harford, and recited "That Mr. Brander, of
Fairclose, handed back that estate, together with the house and all
appurtenances appertaining thereto, to Cuthbert Hartington as a dowry
with his daughter Mary upon her marriage with the said Cuthbert
Hartington, being moved thereto partly by his love and affection for his
daughter, partly by the desire to restore to the said Cuthbert
Hartington the family estates of which he had been deprived, partly from
the want of care of the said Jeremiah Brander in failing to represent to
the late J. W. Hartington, father of the said Cuthbert Hartington, the
grievous nature of the liability he would incur by taking shares in the
Abchester and County Bank."

Cuthbert was the more anxious to get the affair arranged, as the
insurrection in Paris had broken out, and he was eager to return there.
At last the deed was drawn up and he returned to Abchester, and taking a
fly at the station drove straight to Fairclose.

He had written several times to Mary lamenting that business had
detained him longer than he expected, and suggesting that it would be
better for her to leave Paris at once, but she had replied that she
would rather remain there, at any rate, until his r