vercame her. In the afternoon she
wrote a letter to Mr Holden, begging that she might be kept constantly
acquainted with the progress of things.

At five her mother brought tea.

'Wouldn't it be better if you went to bed now, Marian?' she suggested.

'To bed? But I am going out in an hour or two.'

'Oh, you can't, dear! It's so bitterly cold. It wouldn't be good for
you.'

'I have to go out, mother, so we won't speak of it.'

It was not safe to reply. Mrs Yule sat down, and watched the girl raise
the cup to her mouth with trembling hand.

'This won't make any difference to you--in the end, my darling,' the
mother ventured to say at length, alluding for the first time to the
effect of the catastrophe on Marian's immediate prospects.

'Of course not,' was the reply, in a tone of self-persuasion.

'Mr Milvain is sure to have plenty of money before long.'

'Yes.'

'You feel much better now, don't you?'

'Much. I am quite well again.'

At seven, Marian went out. Finding herself weaker than she had thought,
she stopped an empty cab that presently passed her, and so drove to
the Milvains' lodgings. In her agitation she inquired for Mr Milvain,
instead of for Dora, as was her habit; it mattered very little, for
the landlady and her servants were of course under no misconception
regarding this young lady's visits.

Jasper was at home, and working. He had but to look at Marian to see
that something wretched had been going on at her home; naturally he
supposed it the result of his letter to Mr Yule.

'Your father has been behaving brutally,' he said, holding her hands and
gazing anxiously at her.

'There is something far worse than that, Jasper.'

'Worse?'

She threw off her outdoor things, then took the fatal letter from her
pocket and handed it to him. Jasper gave a whistle of consternation, and
looked vacantly from the paper to Marian's countenance.

'How the deuce comes this about?' he exclaimed. 'Why, wasn't your uncle
aware of the state of things?'

'Perhaps he was. He may have known that the legacy was a mere form.'

'You are the only one affected?'

'So father says. It's sure to be the case.'

'This has upset you horribly, I can see. Sit down, Marian. When did the
letter come?'

'This morning.'

'And you have been fretting over it all day. But come, we must keep up
our courage; you may get something substantial out of the scoundrels
still.'

Even whilst he spoke his eyes wandered absently