"That is all you know, Sir John, but I dare not say any more."
"But having said so much, I am afraid you must. I asked you three girls what special friend or relation you would like to be present in the hour of your triumph, and you selected Mrs. Aylmer. If you did not like Mrs. Aylmer, why did you ask her to come? I would gladly have received your own mother."
"I will tell you," said Florence, in a hurried voice. "Mrs. Aylmer is much interested in your Scholarship, Sir John, and she says if I win it that she will adopt me. I shall be her—her heiress then. You understand that it means a great deal to me, the Scholarship?"
"Yes, I understand," said Sir John, gravely. His face looked troubled. "Sit down here, my dear," he said. Florence seated herself on a chair by his side. "I can understand, and I am sorry; it is scarcely fair that your young mind should be strained to this extent. And if you don't win the Scholarship?"
"Ah, if I don't, Aunt Susan will not need you to ask me much to Cherry Court Park. She will wash her hands of me."
"Indeed, this is disturbing."
"I ought not to have told you, and you must pretend that you do not know."
"I shall say nothing, of course; all the same, I am sorry."
Sir John sat very thoughtful for a moment. After a long pause he spoke.
"I ought not to give you any special advantage over the other girls," he said, "but suppose I do this?"