consent, we will have no more speeches, no returning of thanks; we
will spare Philip his blushes. But before I sit down I will bid you
all farewell, for I am in my eighty-third year, and I feel that I
shall never see very many of your faces again. I wish that I had been
a better neighbour to you all, as there are many other things I wish,
now that it is too late to fulfil them; but I still hope that some of
you will now and again find a kind thought for the old man whom among
yourselves you talk of as 'Devil Caresfoot.' Believe me, my friends,
there is truth in the old proverb: the devil is not always as black as
he is painted. I give you my toast, my son Philip and his affianced
wife, Maria Lee."

The whole company rose, actuated by a common impulse, and drank the
health standing; and such was the pathos of the old squire's speech,
that there were eyes among those present that were not free from
tears. Then the ladies retired, amongst them poor Maria, who was
naturally upset at the unexpected, and, in some ways, unwelcome
notoriety thus given to herself.

In the drawing-room, she was so overwhelmed with congratulations, that
at last, feeling that she could not face a fresh edition from the male
portion of the gathering, she ordered her carriage, and quietly
slipped away home, to think over matters at her leisure.

Philip, too, came in for his share of honours down below, and
acknowledged them as best he might, for he had not the moral courage
to repudiate the position. He felt that his father had forced his hand
completely, and that there was nothing to be done, and sank into the
outward calmness of despair. But if his companions could have seen the
whirlpool of hatred, terror, and fury that raged within his breast as