IN spite of all this self-congratulation the wicked scheme which the plotters were so sanguine of carrying through to a successful end came near to miscarrying owing to Martha’s fears and misgivings. She could not make up her mind to deceive her father, and said at last that she would not leave Ministerfield, so Pym was hastily brought to her, and he played the passionate lover with good effect, while with many a solemn vow he assured her that she had nothing to fear. Without the slightest unnecessary delay he would marry her in London. She could then return to Ministerfield, go back to her woodland home, and remain quietly there until the time was ripe for the announcement that she was the lawful wife of a baronet’s son. It would be a splendid triumph over the carpers and scandalmongers,
