"Well no, not exactly. Aunt Lucy exaggerates. But he did say that he had no end of money and asked her permission to pay his addresses to me."
"To you!" cried Gertrude, her color coming and going; "why, I thought that you were engaged to Mr. Weston."
"I am in love with Mr. Weston," said Mabel straightforwardly, "but I am not engaged to him, although I may be. I refused him once, and my aunt wished me to marry you--that is, Mr. Marr!" She paused, then spread out her hands in a foreign fashion, "I can't understand what it means."
"Cyrus understands," said Gertrude, and her voice sounded cold. "Perhaps you will explain, Cyrus."
"Willingly," I said, nerved to desperate coolness, "but you will understand in your turn that I was bound by a promise made to your father not to say anything if certain conditions were fulfilled.
"Was that fair to me?" asked Mabel angrily.
"Perfectly fair," I snapped. "I learned the truth when I met Mr. Marr at Lady Denham's house. Then I recognized him as Mr. Monk, and afterwards I had an explanation with him."
"Why didn't you tell us his real name when you set eyes on him?" demanded Lady Mabel crossly.
"I did not wish to make a scene. It was only fair to await an explanation."
"What?" cried the girl, her color rising, "when Mr. Marr was calling on my aunt under a false name----"