"No," rejoined Ralph, promptly. "And yet I can't say that I have heard a word against Rosy Pearl. I simply mean that you would not like one who had been a dancer to be your stepmother."
"I certainly should not," said Audrey, decisively; "and yet if I object, my father--as he hinted--is quite capable of turning me out of doors. He will do that in any case, unless I marry Lord Anvers."
"What!" Shawe flushed. "That little reptile, who--"
"I know a great deal about him," said Audrey, cutting him short, "and I do not wish to hear any more. I shall leave this house rather than marry him, and rather than see this Pearl woman occupying my mother's place."
"Come to me, darling," said Ralph, holding out his arms. "Let us get married at once and defy your father."
"I should lose my money then, dear."
"Oh, what does that matter? I want you and not your money."
"Dear"--she placed her hands on his shoulders and looked deeply into his keen grey eyes, now filled with the love-light--"I am too fond of you to allow you to ruin yourself for my sake."
"Ruin myself"--his arms slipped round her waist, and he placed his cheek against hers--"how could you do that, you silly darling?"
"Very easily," she replied, in a tired voice; for all she had gone through was wearing her out. "You have just enough money to get along with, as a bachelor. But what is enough for one is not enough for two, in spite of the proverb. If I married you in haste we should both repent at leisure. Not only would we be poor, but my father, being thwarted, would do his best to hinder you."