d
write a few letters."

Humphrey leaped from his chair.

"'Bout draining the little meadow, sir?" he said. "Shall I set the men
on? The tiles is come."

Richard's face contracted with pain, and then a bitter smile crossed it.

"My dear Humphrey," he said, taking his hand, "can you not realise your
position? You are master here."

"No, sir," cried Humphrey, flinging down his hat, and then picking it
up--"I'll be blessed if I can. This has put my head all in a buzz, like
bees swarming, and I can't understand it a bit."

He left the room, and Richard gave a sigh of relief, seating himself at
his table, and taking up a pen to write; but only to rest his head upon
his hand, and stare before him, dazed--crushed.

"Please, sir, Mrs Lloyd says can you make it convenient to see her?"
said the footman; and then he started back, astounded at his master's
anger.

"No," roared Richard, "I will see no one. Let me be left alone."

Then he hastily wrote a letter to Pratt, and fastened it down before
dropping it in the letter-bag, and threw it into the hall.

He had hardly finished before, knocking first softly, Lloyd opened the
door, to stand trembling before him.

Richard pointed to the door.

"Go," he said, hoarsely. "I can't talk to you now. Another time--in a
week--in a month--wait until then."

"But--"

"Go--for Heaven's sake, go!" cried Richard, frantically.

He was left alone.

Next came a note in pencil from Mrs Lloyd.

"My dearest Boy--Forgive me; it was for your sake I did all this.
Pray be careful, for I fear Humphrey has some suspicion. Do see me,
and give me your advice.

"M.J.L."

"Poor woman!" he muttered, tearing the note bit by bit into tiny
fragments. "Her plan is destroyed, save that this niece--my fair
cousin, Polly--will sit in the seat she intended, without poor Humphrey
is spoiled by prosperity. Poor fellow! It will be a hard trial for
him.

"Be careful?" he said, laughing in a strange, harsh fashion. "Does she
think I am going to remain her accomplice in this horrible fraud?"

He sat down, then, to think; but his brain was in a whirl, and he gave
up in despair.

At last he woke up to the fact that it was growing late, and he
remembered that he was to have accompanied the Reas on an expedition
that afternoon, and now it was past six. They must have been and
returned.

What would poor Tiny think?

A cold, chilling feeling of despair came over him now. What w