“Does any one else know of this, father?” Belle asked.
“No one knows it except Gerald, and I can trust him. This must be a secret between us two, Belle. It is the one favor I have to ask of you; and I don’t ask it for my own sake, but for the sake of my family.”
“For the sake of the Marchioness of Severn. I understand.” There was a touch of resentment in her voice. “She has been good enough to speak to me since I came to this house; she has explained to me the gulf that separates her world from mine.”
“My child! If you knew how bitter it is to me not to be able to spare you such things! But what motive could she have had for speaking to you like that? She can have no suspicion of the truth, surely?”
“Oh, no. She simply wished to point out to me how unworthy I was to receive the honorable addresses of a gentleman such as her daughter might accept.”
“What man is that?”
“Mr. John Hammond.”
The marquis started. It was the first time he had heard Hammond’s name in connection with Belle’s, and he was not ignorant of his wife’s designs on behalf of Victoria.
“The very man!” he exclaimed. “And you—what have you done?”
“I have taken her ladyship’s good advice,” said Belle, proudly. “I have refused Mr. Hammond.”