Receiving no reply, the girl took off her hat, laid aside her wraps, and rang for the maid.  Then she drew up a chair and sat down by her mother’s side.

“My, this fire is pleasant,” she remarked, as she leaned back and gazed into the glowing coals.  “I am glad after all that I came home.”

“Why didn’t Mr. Donaster come in, Jess?  I have not seen him for some time.”

“Neither have I, mother.”  The girl’s face flushed, and there was a challenge in her voice.

“You haven’t!  Why, I thought you were with him to-night.”

“Indeed I was not.  You know as well as I do that I wish to have nothing to do with that man.  I have told you so over and over again.”

This sudden outburst aroused the woman from her crouching position.  She sat upright, and the expression in her eyes told how deeply she was offended.

“Now, look here, Jess,” she began, “I want no more of this nonsense.  I have made up my mind that you are to marry Mr. Donaster, and marry him you shall.”

“Would you force me to marry such a man as that?” the girl asked.

“And why not?”

“Because I detest him, and hate the very sight of him.”

“But he is of a fine family, and his father, Lord Donaster, is immensely rich.  Burton is his only son, and he will inherit the estate, so you will be Lady Donaster.  It is very seldom a girl meets with such an opportunity in this province.”

The girl gave her head a slight toss, and her face flushed more than ever.

“I can hardly believe it possible that you are willing to barter your only daughter for such baubles,” she indignantly replied.  “It is unnatural.”

The presence of the maid with tea and toast interrupted the conversation for a few minutes.  Jess poured the tea for her mother, but took none herself.

“Are you not going to have any tea?” her mother asked.

“No, I do not care for any now, as I had some at Mrs. Merton’s.”

“So that’s where you were, eh?  Why didn’t you go to the play?”

“I didn’t want to.  I preferred to spend a quiet hour or two with Mrs. Merton.  She is a woman who does things of some importance instead of spending her time upon a giddy butterfly-life.  She is a regular tonic, and always inspires me to be up and doing.”

“You are silly, Jess.”  Her mother was visibly annoyed.  “Why should you talk about being up and doing?  Haven’t you everything that you desire, with the prospect of a brilliant career before you?”

“What career?”

“As Lady Donaster, of course.  To what else should I refer?”

“And you call that a career, mother?  Slavery is the right word to use.  I wish to be of some benefit to the world and not to drift through life like a wretched puppet.”

“If this is what you have learned from Mrs. Merton you must not go there any more.  I have always known that she held peculiar views, but I had no idea that she would try to unsettle the minds of young girls.”