"Who is this man?" she asked, abruptly. "Do you know his name?"
"I do, madam, but I shall not tell it to you."
"Mr. Jarner----"
"No more, ma'm! I have wasted too many words as it is. You shall not interrupt the course of true love. He is not for you, but for Meg Merle."
She strove to detain him, but he strode away, deeply angered at her pertinacity. She stamped her foot, and looked at the picture of Sir Alurde.
"Meg shall never marry you," she said, thinking of Dan,--"never! never! never!"
[CHAPTER XXIV.]
A WOMAN SCORNED.
In her then state of mind it needed but the assurance of Jarner that Dan loved Meg to change Miss Linisfarne's passive dislike of the girl into active hatred. She had long been aware that Meg was her rival, but this confirmation by a third party showed her how easily she might lose her prize. At the same time, she was sufficiently clever to see that Meg was quite unconscious of Dan's devotion, and hoped, by taking advantage of this fact, to draw him away from one presumably indifferent to his regard. It was a difficult and delicate task, but Miss Linisfarne deemed herself capable of carrying it through. Come what may, she was resolved that Meg should not triumph.
To forward her schemes, it was necessary that she should have an interview with Dan, and therefore sent a note to the dell requesting him to call. The young man duly received the invitation, and, though reluctant to visit a lady with whom his name was connected by gossip, could not find sufficient grounds for refusal, and so sent back to say that he would call at noon as desired. Had he known of Jarner's interview, he might have been placed on his guard, and so refused a meeting which could only end in disaster; but Jarner was away on parochial business, and Dan was quite ignorant of his danger.