les with no friend near
her. Now she had many friends,--many who were anxious to support her,
even the Bluestones, who had been so hard upon her while she was
along with them;--but they who were now her friends were never near
her to assist her with a word.

So it came to pass that when Daniel Thwaite called at the house
exactly at one o'clock Lady Anna was not expecting him. On the
previous day at that hour she had sat waiting with anxious ears for
the knock at the door which might announce his coming. But she had
waited in vain. From one to two,--even till seven in the evening, she
had waited. But he had not come, and she had feared that some scheme
had been used against her. The people at the Post Office had been
bribed,--or the women in Wyndham Street had been false. But she would
not be hindered. She would go out alone and find him,--if he were to
be found in London.

When he did come, she was not thinking of his coming. He was shown
into the dining-room, and within a minute afterwards the Countess
entered with stately step. She was well dressed, even to the
adjustment of her hair; and she was a woman so changed that he would
hardly have known her as that dear and valued friend whose slightest
word used to be a law to his father,--but who in those days never
seemed to waste a thought upon her attire. She had been out that
morning walking through the streets, and the blood had mounted to her
cheeks He acknowledged to himself that she looked like a noble and
high-born dame. There was a fire in her eye, and a look of scorn
about her mouth and nostrils, which had even for him a certain
fascination,--odious to him as were the pretensions of the so-called
great. She was the first to speak. "You have called to see my
daughter," she said.

"Yes, Lady Lovel,--I have."

"You cannot see her."

"I came at her request."

"I know you did, but you cannot see her. You can be hardly so
ignorant of the ways of the world, Mr. Thwaite, as to suppose that a
young lady can receive what visitors she pleases without the sanction
of her guardians."

"Lady Anna Lovel has no guardian, my lady. She is of age, and is at
present her own guardian."

"I am her mother, and shall exercise the authority of a mother over
her. You cannot see her. You had better go."

"I shall not be stopped in this way, Lady Lovel."

"Do you mean that you will force your way up to her? To do so you
will have to trample over me;--and there are constables