Grace looked at Lady Janet with an evil smile.
"I begin to understand your ladyship," she said. "You are ashamed
to acknowledge that you have been grossly imposed upon. Your only
alternative, of course, is to ignore everything that has happened. Pray
count on _my_ forbearance. I am not at all offended--I am merely amused.
It is not every day that a lady of high rank exhibits herself in such a
position as yours to an obscure woman like me. Your humane consideration
for me dates, I presume, from the time when your adopted daughter set
you the example, by ordering the police officer out of the room?"
Lady Janet's composure was proof even against this assault on it. She
gravely accepted Grace's inquiry as a question addressed to her in
perfect good faith.
"I am not at all surprised," she replied, "to find that my adopted
daughter's interference has exposed her to misrepresentation. She ought
to have remonstrated with me privately before she interfered. But she
has one fault--she is too impulsive. I have never, in all my experience,
met with such a warm-hearted person as she is. Always too considerate
of others; always too forgetful of herself! The mere appearance of the
police officer placed you in a situation to appeal to her compassion,
and her impulses carried her away as usual. My fault! All my fault!"
Grace changed her tone once more. She was quick enough to discern that
Lady Janet was a match for her with her own weapons.
"We have had enough of this," she said. "It is time to be serious. Your
adopted daughter (as you call her) is Mercy Merrick, and you know it."
Lady Janet returned to her papers.
"I am Grace Roseberry, whose name she has stolen, and you know _that_."
Lady Janet went on with her papers.
Grace got up from her chair.
"I accept your silence, Lady Janet," she said, "as an acknowledgment
of your deliberate resolution to suppress the truth. You are evidently
determined to receive the adventuress as the true woman; and you don't
scruple to face the consequences of that proceeding, by pretending to my
face to believe that I am mad. I will not allow myself to be impudently
cheated out of my rights in this way. You will hear from me again madam,
when the Canadian mail arrives in England."
She walked toward the door. This time Lady Janet answered, as readily
and as explicitly as it was possible to desire.
"I shall refuse to receive your letters," she said.
Grace returned a few steps, threateningly.
"My letters shall be followed by my witnesses," she proceeded.
"I shall refuse to receive your witnesses."
"Refuse at your peril. I will appeal to the law."
Lady Janet smiled.