ere. Very well; but you cannot prevent it. Would it not
be much wiser of you either to submit to my authority or----"

"Or?" repeated Sylvia icily.

"Or take the obvious course of providing yourself with a home
elsewhere," said Mrs. Ingleton.

Sylvia put up a quick hand to her throat. She was breathing very
quickly. "You wish to force me to marry that horrible Preston
man?" she said.

"By no means, my dear," smiled Mrs. Ingleton. "But you might do a
good deal worse. I tell you frankly, you will be very much
underdog as long as you elect to remain in this establishment. Oh
yes!" She suddenly rose to her full majestic height, dwarfing the
girl before her with conscious triumph. "I may have some trouble
with you, but conquer you I will. Your father will not interfere
between us. You have seen that for yourself. In fact, he has just
told me that he leaves the management of you entirely to me. He
has given me an absolutely free hand--very wisely. If I choose to
lock you in your room for the rest of the day he will not
interfere. And as I am quite capable of doing so, I warn you to be
very careful."

Sylvia stood as if turned to stone. She was white to the lips, but
she confronted her step-mother wholly without fear.

"Do you really think I would submit to that?" she said. "I am not
a child, I assure you, whatever I may appear to you. You will
certainly never manage me by that sort of means."

Her clear, emphatic voice fell without agitation. Now that the
first shock of the encounter was past she had herself quite firmly
in hand.

But Mrs. Ingleton took her up swiftly, realizing possibly that a
moment's delay would mean the yielding of the ground she had so
arrogantly claimed.

"I shall manage you exactly as I choose," she said, raising her
voice with abrupt violence. "I know very well your position in
this house. You are absolutely dependent, and--unless you
marry--you will remain so, being quite unqualified to earn your own
living. Therefore the whip-hand is mine, and if I find you
insolent or intractable I shall use it without mercy. How dare you
set yourself against me in this way?" She stamped with sudden fury
upon the ground. "No, not a word! Leave the room instantly--I will
have no more of it! Do you hear me, Sylvia? Do you hear me?"

She raised a menacing hand, but the fearless eyes never flinched.

"I think you must be mad," Sylvia said.

"Mad!" raved Mrs. Ingleton. "Mad be