I consent, my dear. You can arrange your campaign, and then I can discuss the matter with this very undesirable suitor. But you must give me your promise that you will not run away with him meanwhile.”

Lillian held herself very erect and replied stiffly. “Of course I promise, Uncle John. I am not ashamed of loving Dan, and I shall marry him in a proper manner. But I shan’t marry Lord Curberry,” she ended, and fairly ran away, so as to prevent further objections.

“Oh, my dear, I think you will,” grinned Sir John at the closed door, and he sat down to pen a diplomatic letter to Mr. Halliday, earnestly wishing to have the matter settled and done with. “These romantic young nuisances,” said the schemer crossly.

The new baronet was a slim, well-preserved dandy of sixty, who looked no older than forty-five, owing to the means he took to keep himself fit. He was the younger and only brother of Moon, and inherited the title since there was no nephew to take it. He also inherited ten thousand a year on condition that he acted as Lillian’s guardian. It was no mean task, for the girl had an income of £50,000 coming in every twelve months. There would be plenty of hard-up flies gathering round this honey-pot, and Sir John foresaw that it would not be an easy business to settle the young lady’s matrimonial future, especially as the said young lady was obstinate beyond belief. Sir John, being a loafer by nature, had never possessed sufficient money to indulge to the full in his luxurious tastes, since his brother had not financed him as largely as he could have wished. But now that he was safe for the rest of his life on an income which would enable him to enjoy the world’s good, Sir John did not wish to be bothered. It was his aim to get his niece married and settled as soon as possible, so that she could be looked after by a husband.

Under these circumstances, and since Lillian was anxious to marry Dan, it was strange that the baronet should not allow her to indulge her fancy. He objected for two reasons: one was that he really did not think Halliday a good match; and, moreover, he knew of his late brother’s opinion concerning the matter of the wooing. The second reason had to do with the fact that he had borrowed a large sum of money from Lord Curberry, and did not wish to pay it back again, even though he could do so easily enough in his present flourishing circumstances. Curberry offered to forego the payment if Sir John could persuade Lillian to marry him. And as Moon wanted to be able to talk about the girl as a peeress, and did not want to reduce his new income by frittering it away in paying back debts, he was determined to bring about the very desirable marriage, as he truly considered it to be.

“Curberry is sure to go in for politics,” thought the plotter, “and he has enough brains to become Prime Minister if he likes. He’s got a decent income, too, and a very old title. With Lillian’s money and beauty she should have a titled husband. Besides,” this was an after-thought, “Curberry can make himself deuced disagreeable if he likes.” And perhaps it was this last idea which made Sir John so anxious for the marriage to take place.

The late Sir Charles had been a big, burly, broad-shouldered man, with a powerful clean-shaven face—the kind of over-bearing, pushing personality which was bound to come up top wherever men were congregated. And Sir Charles had massively pushed his way from poverty to affluence, from obscurity into notoriety, if not fame. Now his honours and wealth were in the hands of two people infinitely weaker than he had been. Lillian was but a delicate girl, solely bent upon marriage with an undesirable suitor, while Sir John had no desire to do anything with his new income and new title save to enjoy the goods which the gods had sent him so unexpectedly. He was by no means a strong man, being finical, self-indulgent, and quite feminine in his love for dress and luxury. Much smaller and slighter than his masterful brother, he was perfectly arrayed on all occasions in purple and fine linen; very self-possessed, very polite, and invariably quiet in his manner. He had several small talents, and indulged in painting, poetry, and music, producing specimens of each as weak and neatly finished as he was himself. He also collected china and stamps, old lace and jewels, which he loved for their colour and glitter. Such a man was too fantastical to earn the respect of Lillian, who adored the strength which showed itself in Dan.