"Do you mean with Mr. Chattaway?"
"I mean——No matter what I mean. I think there will be trouble over it."
"There need be none if you will sanction it. But that you might misconstrue me, I would urge you to give her to me for Maude's own sake. This escapade of poor Rupert's has rendered Mr. Chattaway's roof an undesirable one for her."
"Maude is a Trevlyn, and must marry a gentleman," spoke Miss Diana.
"I am one," said George quietly. "Forgive me if I remind you that my ancestors are equal to those of the Trevlyns. In the days gone by——"
"You need not enter upon it," was the interruption. "I do not forget it. But gentle descent is not all that is necessary. Maude will have money, and it is only right that she should marry one who possesses it in an equal degree."
"Maude will not have a shilling," cried George, impulsively.
"Indeed! Who told you so?"
George laughed. "It is what I have always supposed. Where is her money to come from?"
"She will have a great deal of money," persisted Miss Diana. "The half of my fortune, at least, will be Maude's. The other half I intended for Rupert. Did you suppose the last of the Trevlyns, Maude and Rupert, would be turned penniless into the world?"