The two fathers had partly agreed that the heir to Derby should wed the heiress of Haddon.

The heir, although he had never seen his cousin except when she was a plain, unattractive girl, was entirely willing for the match, but the heiress--well, she had not been consulted, and everybody connected with the affair instinctively knew there would be trouble in that quarter.

Sir George, however, had determined that Dorothy should do her part in case the contract of marriage should be agreed upon between the heads of the houses.

He had fully resolved to assert the majesty of the law vested in him as a father and to compel Dorothy to do his bidding, if there were efficacy in force and chastisement.

At the time when Sir George spoke to Dorothy about the Derby marriage, she had been a prisoner for a fortnight or more, and had learned that her only hope against her father lay in cunning.