‘Do no such thing, Will; pray do not,’ said his sister.

‘And why not?’

’Because it will be better that you should wait.  You will only injure yourself and her by being impetuous.’

’But it is absolutely necessary that she should know her own position.  It would be cruelty to keep her in ignorance though for the matter of that I shall be ashamed to tell her.  Yes I shall be ashamed to look her in the face.  What will she think of it after I had assured her that she should have the whole?’

’But she would not have taken it, Will.  And had she done so, she would have been very wrong.  Now she will be comfortable.’

‘I wish I could be comfortable,’ said he.

‘If you will only wait’

’I hate waiting.  I do not see what good it will do.  Besides, I don’t mean to say anything about that not today, at least.  I don t indeed.  As for being here and not seeing her, that is out of the question.  Of course she would think that I had quarrelled with her, and that I meant to take everything to myself, now that I have the power.’

‘She won’t suspect you of wishing to quarrel with her, Will’

’I should in her place.  It is out of the question that I should be here, and not go to her.  It would be monstrous.  I will wait till they have done lunch, and then I will go up.’

It was at last decided that he should walk up to the cottage, call upon Colonel Askerton, and ask to see Clara in the colonel’s presence.  It was thought that he could make his statement about the money better before a third person who could be regarded as Clara’s friend, than could possibly be done between themselves.  He did, therefore, walk across to the cottage, and was shown into Colonel Askerton’s study.

‘There he is,’ Mrs Askerton said, as soon as she heard the sound of the bell.  ‘I knew that he would come at once.’

During the whole morning Mrs Askerton had been insisting that Belton would make his appearance on that very day the day of his arrival at Belton, and Clara had been asserting that he would not do so.

‘Why should he come?’ Clara had said.

’Simply to take you to his own house, like any other of his goods and chattels.’

‘I am not his goods or his chattels.’

’But you soon will be; and why shouldn’t you accept your lot quietly?  He is Belton of Belton, and everything here belongs to him.’

‘I do not belong to him.’

’What nonsense!  When a man has the command of the situation, as he has, he can do just what he pleases.  If he were to come and carry you off by violence, I have no doubt the Beltonians would assist him, and say that he was right.  And you of course would forgive him.  Belton of Belton may do anything.’

‘That is nonsense, if you please.’

’Indeed if you had any of that decent feeling of feminine inferiority which ought to belong to all women, he would have found you sitting on the doorstep of his house waiting for him.’