She was committed now at any rate to a definite course.

There had been moments of indecision--moments in which she had been inclined to revert to her first impressions of the man, which, before she had heard Davenant's story, had been favourable enough.

That was all over now.

That pitifully tragic figure--the man who died with a tardy fortune in his hands, an outcast in a far off country--had stirred in her heart a passionate sympathy--reason even gave way before it.

She declared war against Mr.
Scarlett Trent..