"Mrs. Ward?"
"Exactly. She will move heaven and earth to prevent the marriage."
George looked puzzled. "I see no reason why she should oppose it, if I am acknowledged as your heir."
"Nor do I. I thought myself that it was simply the money she wanted, and if you were the son-in-law she would not get her claws on the gold. But there is more in it than that. She seeks revenge."
"On me? I have never harmed her."
"It's a vicarious revenge. I believed that woman loved your father, George, and that he slighted her; that is why she wants to visit his sin--as with a vindictive spirit she may regard it--on you."
"Did Mrs. Ward know my father, sir?" asked George, quickly.
"Yes. She met him at San Remo."
"Then she knew he was murdered?"
"Of course. I saw Mrs. Ward the other day, George. She came here to force me to harm you and to consent to Walter marrying Dorothy."