said mr she had better marry an american and he made a the last more decided motion to free himself from s but his resistance only strengthened the young man s the more unpleasant the latter s task became the more unwilling he grew to see his efforts end in failure during the three days which had been consumed in his quest it had become clear to him that the bridegroom s parents having been surprised to a reluctant consent were but too ready to withdraw it on the plea of mr s mrs on the last edge of had confided to that the were being nasty and he could picture the whole powerful on both sides of the channel arrayed in a resolve to poor from their ranks the very of the contest stirred his blood and made him vow that in this case at least the sins of the parents should not be visited on the children in his talk with the young secretary he had obtained certain glimpses of baron s past that fortified this resolve the baron at one time a familiar figure in a much observed london set had been mixed up in an ugly money business ending in suicide which had excluded him from the society most accessible to his race his alliance with mrs was doubtless a desperate attempt at a forlorn hope on both sides but likely to be an enduring tie because it represented to both partners their last chance of escape from social that her the last s marriage was a mere stake in their game did not in the least affect s view of its if on their part it was a sordid speculation to her it had the freshness of the first if it made of her a mere in their hands it would put her so hoped beyond farther risk of such base uses and to achieve this had become a necessity to him the sense that if he lost sight of mr the latter might not easily be found again to hold his ground in spite of the resistance he encountered and he tried to put the full force of his plea into the tone with which he cried ah you don t know your daughter vi ti that afternoon met him on the � threshold of her sitting room with a well of pent up anxiety in the room itself baron sat with crossed legs and head thrown back in an attitude which he did not see fit to alter at the young man s approach hesitated but it was not the of the baron s greeting which he resented you ve found him mrs exclaimed yes she followed his glance and answered it with a slight shrug i can t take you into my room because there s a the last dress maker there and she won t go because she s waiting to be paid she exclaimed you re not wanted please go and look out of the window the baron rose and lighting a retired to the mrs flung herself down and signed to to take a seat at her side well � you ve found him you ve talked with him yes i ve talked with him � for an hour she made an impatient movement that s too long does he refuse he doesn t consent then you mean � he wants time to think it over time there is no time � did you tell him so i told him so but you must remember that he has plenty he has taken twenty four hours mrs groaned oh that s too much when he thinks things over he always refuses well he would have refused at once if i had not agreed to the delay she rose nervously from her seat and pressed her hands to her forehead it s too hard after all i ve done the is ordered � think how disgraceful you must have managed him badly i ll go and see him myself the baron at this turned abruptly from his study of the place the last my dear creature for heaven s sake don t spoil everything he exclaimed mrs coloured furiously what s the meaning of that brilliant speech i was merely putting myself in the place of a man on whom you have ceased to smile he picked up his hat and stick nodded to and walked toward the door with an air of creaking but on the threshold mrs him don t go � i must speak to you she said following him into the chamber and remembered the dress maker who was not to be from her bedroom in a moment mrs returned with a small flat packet which he vainly sought to in an inaccessible pocket he makes everything too odious she exclaimed but whether she referred to her husband or the baron it was left to to decide she sat silent nervously twisting her case between her fingers while her visitor the details of his conversation with mr he did not indeed tell her the arguments he had used to shake her husband s resolve since in his eloquent sketch of s situation there had entered hints to her mother but he gave the impression that his had the last in the end been moved and for that reason had consented to his refusal ah it s not that � it s to our misery mrs exclaimed and after a moment she added he s been waiting for such an opportunity for years it seemed needless for to his visit and he took leave with the promise to report at once the result of his final talk with mr but as he was passing through the chamber a side door opened and stood before him her face was flushed and shaken out of its usual repose and he saw at once that she had been waiting for him 