'What has she done to offend you?'
'Done? nothing. She exists, that is quite enough. Her whole nature—her moral being—is antagonistic to mine. What is your opinion of a young woman who declares in cold blood that she means to marry for money?'
'Not a pleasant avowal from such lips, certainly,' said Brian. 'She may have been only joking.'
'After events showed that she was in earnest.'
'How so? Has she married for money? I thought she was still Miss
Palliser?'
'She is; but that is not her fault. She tried her hardest to secure a husband whom she supposed to be rich.'
And then Miss Rylance told how in frolic mood his penniless cousin had been palmed upon Miss Palliser as the owner of the Abbey; how she had fallen readily into the trap, and had carried on a clandestine acquaintance which had resulted in her expulsion from the school where she had filled the subordinate position of pupil-teacher.
'I have heard most of this before, from Bessie, but not the full particulars of the practical joke which put Brian Walford in my shoes,' said Mr. Wendover.
He felt more shocked, more wounded than there was need for him to feel, perhaps; but the girl's beauty had charmed him, and he was prepared to think her a goddess.
'How do you know that Miss Palliser did not like my cousin for his own sake?' he speculated presently. 'Brian Walford is a very nice fellow.'