"It is not a trifling matter. If it was possible, I would tell you what would prevent your ever wishing to know this Mrs. Arlington again. But, as it is, I am your guardian,"—determinately,—"I am responsible for you: I do not wish you to be intimate at The Cottage, and in this one matter at least I must be obeyed."
"Must you? we shall see," replies Miss Chesney, with a tantalizing laugh that, but for the sweet beauty of her riante face, her dewy, mutinous mouth, her great blue eyes, now ablaze with childish wrath, would have made him almost hate her. As it is, he is exceeding full of an indignation he scarcely seeks to control.
"I, as your guardian, forbid you to go to see that woman," he says, in a condensed tone.
"And why, pray?"
"I cannot explain: I simply forbid you. She is not fit to be an associate of yours."
"Then I will not be forbidden: so there!" says Miss Chesney, defiantly.
"Lilian, once for all, do not go to The Cottage again," says Guy, very pale. "If you do you will regret it."
"Is that a threat?"
"No; it is a warning. Take it as such if you are wise. If you go against my wishes in this matter, I shall refuse to take charge of you any longer."
"I don't want you to take charge of me," cries Lilian, tears of passion and wounded feeling in her eyes. In her excitement she has risen to her feet and stands confronting him, the Dresden cup still within her hand. "I am not a beggar, that I should crave your hospitality. I can no doubt find a home with some one who will not hate me as you do." With this, the foolish child, losing her temper in toto, raises her hand and, because it is the nearest thing to her, flings the cherished cup upon the floor, where it lies shattered into a thousand pieces.