“I think,” he said, after a minute, and only a slight harshness in his voice marked the internal struggle that the words were to cost him—­“I think, mother, you might do a great deal for him.  Miss Nevill is in town.  Could you not see her?”

“I see her!  What on earth for?”

“If you were to tell her how ill John is, how desperately he feels her treatment of him—­how——­”

“Stop, stop, my dear!  You cannot possibly suppose that I am going down upon my knees to entreat Miss Nevill to marry my son after she has thrown him over!”

“It is no question of going on your knees, mother.  A few words would suffice to show her the misery she is causing to John, and if those few words would restore his lost happiness——­”

“How can I tell that anything I can say would influence her?  I suppose she had good reasons for throwing him over.  She cared for some one else, I suppose, or, at all events, she did not care for him.”

“I am quite certain, on the contrary, that she had a very sincere affection for my brother; and, as to the some one else, I do not think that will prevent her returning to him.  Oh, mother!” he cried, with a sudden passion, “the world is full of miserable misunderstandings and mistakes.  For God’s sake, let us try to put some of its blunders right!  Do not let any poor, mean feelings of false pride stand in our way if we can make one single life happy!”

She looked up at him, wondering a little at his earnestness.  It did not strike her at the minute that his interest in Vera was unusual, but only that his affection for his brother was stronger than she imagined it to be.  “You know,” she said, “I do not want things to come right in that way.  I do not want John to marry.  I want the old place to come to you and your children; and now that John has agreed to let you and Helen live there——­”

He waved his hand impatiently.  “And you know, mother dear, that such desires are unlawful.  John is the eldest, and I will never move a step to take his birthright from him.  To stand in the way of his marriage for such a cause would be a crime.  Is it not better that I should speak plainly to you, dear?  As to my living at Kynaston, I think it highly unlikely that I should do so in any case, much as you and Helen seem to wish it.  But that has nothing to do with John’s affairs.  Promise me, little mother, that you will try and set that right by seeing Miss Nevill?”

“I do not suppose I should do any good,” she answered, with visible reluctance.

“Never mind; you can but try.”

“You can’t expect me to go and call upon her for such a purpose, nor speak to her, without John’s authority.”

“You might ask her to come here, or go to some house where you will meet her naturally in public.”

“Yes, that would be best; perhaps she will be at Lady Cloverdale’s ball next week.”

“It is easy, at all events, to ensure her an invitation to it; ask Beatrice Miller to get her one.”