CHAPTER XV.
The Denouement.
Then Basil Carruthers set himself busily to work to discover how he might best undo the effects of his folly.

The duties he had thought so lightly of rose before him now.
"I will go down to Ulverston," he said to himself, "and with God's help I will be a wiser and a better man." He saw what his mistaken notions of chivalry had done for him--how completely they had misled him--how near they had brought him to ruin and disgrace.

The meeting between mother and son was not the most pleasant in the world.

Lady Carruthers, stately, sensitive, and proud, could not forgive the dark disgrace under which her son had lain.

He saw how deeply she felt it.
"Mother," he said, "you must judge me leniently.