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in an agitated way. ‘There you are, then. If only you would have Mablethorpe, there would be an end to Ormskirk’s pretensions! I can’t deny, Deb, that we are very awkwardly situated there. Don’t, for heaven’s sake, quarrel with the man! I daresay he would clap us up in a debtors’ prison in the blink of an eye!’
    ‘How much money do we owe Ormskirk?’ asked Deborah, raising her clear gaze to her aunt’s face.
    ‘My love, don’t ask me! I had never the least head for figures! There’s that odious mortgage on the house, for one thing. I have been quite misled! I made sure we should make a great deal of money, if only we could set up in a modish establishment. But what with green peas, and two free suppers every night, not to mention all that champagne and claret, and the faro-bank’s being broke twice in one week, I’m sure it is a wonder we can still open our doors! And now what must you do, my love, but play piquet with Ravenscar; not that I blame you, for I am sure you did the right thing, and if only he may be induced to try his hand at faro it will have been worth the outlay. Did he seem pleased, my dear?’
    ‘I don’t know,’ answered Deborah candidly. ‘He is a strange creature. I had the oddest feeling that he did not like me, but he chose to play with me all the evening.’
    Lady Bellingham laid down the haresfoot, and turned a brightening countenance upon her niece. ‘Do you suppose perhaps he may offer for you, Deb? Oh, if that were to happen-! I declare I should die of very joy! He is the richest man in London. Now, don’t, don’t, I implore you, take one of your dislikes to him! Only think how our troubles would vanish!’
    Deborah could not help laughing, but she shook her head as well, and said: ‘My dear aunt, I am persuaded no such thought has entered Mr Ravenscar’s head! I wish you will not think so much about my marriage. I doubt I was born to wear the willow.’
    ‘Never say so, Deb! Why, you are so handsome you have even turned Ormskirk’s head—not that I should like you to become his mistress, because I am sure it is not the sort of thing your poor father would have wished for you at all, besides putting you in an awkward situation, and quite ruining all your chances of making a good match. Only if it is not to be Ormskirk, it must be marriage.’
    ‘Nonsense! Put all these bills away, ma’am, and forget them. We have had a run of bad luck, it’s true, and have been monstrously extravagant besides, but we shall come about, trust me!’
    ‘Not with Indian muslin at ten shillings the yard, and wheatstraw for bedding a crown the truss, or the bushel, or whatever it is,’ said Lady Bellingham gloomily.
    ‘Wheatstraw?’ asked Miss Grantham, wrinkling her brow.
    ‘Horses,’ explained her aunt, with a heavy sigh.
    Miss Grantham seemed to feel the force of this, and once more bent her head over the bills in her hand. After a prolonged study of these, she said in a daunted voice: ‘Dear ma’am, do we never eat anything but salmon and spring chickens in this house?’
    ‘‘We had a boiled knuckle of veal and pig’s face last week,’ replied Lady Bellingham reflectively. ‘That was for our dinner, but we could not serve it at the suppers, my love.’
    ‘No,’ agreed Miss Grantham reluctantly. ‘Perhaps we ought not to give two suppers every night.’
    ‘Anything of a shabby nature is repugnant to me!’ said her aunt firmly. ‘Sir Edward would not have approved of it.’
    ‘But, ma’am, I daresay he would not have approved of your keeping a gaming-house at all!’ Deborah pointed out.
    ‘Very likely not, my love. I’m sure it is not at all the sort of thing I should choose to do, but if Ned didn’t wish me to do so he should not have died in that inconsiderate way,’ said Lady Bellingham.
    Miss Grantham abandoned this line of argument, and returned to her study of the bills. Such items as Naples Soap, Patent Silk Stockings, Indian Tooth-brushes, and Chintz