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 SOLUTIONS TO END-OF-CHAPTER PROBLEMS

Chapter 7
Risk Management and Internal Control
Questions

1. The three objectives of internal control are:

i. To improve the effectiveness of management decision making and the efficiency of

business processes. Here management is concerned with remaining profitable, getting
high returns on investment, improving market share and their ability to maintain a
competitive advantage, producing high quality products in an efficient manner at a
profitable price. Not achieving any of these can negatively impact the financial
statements. For example, if an organization losses market share due to poor quality of
products their return rate will increase which will negatively impact their net income.
It could also affect their long term viability.
ii. To increase the reliability of information (especially financial reporting). Here
management is concerned with providing reliable financial reports. An organization
needs reliable financial information for decision making and also to be in compliance
with reporting requirements imposed by government regulatory authorities, banks or
others. Producing unreliable information could subject them to fines and litigation
and if publicly traded could impact the ability of their stock to be traded.
iii. To foster compliance with laws, regulations and contractual obligations.
Organizations are required to follow many laws and regulations so they must make
sure that they are in compliance with all laws and regulations that affect their
organizations. Failure to do so could impact their ability to succeed. . If an
organization fails to comply with environmental laws this could result in potential
fines and litigation costs which would negatively impact net income.

2. Student answers may vary here but are likely to include:

• Existence of a competent and independent internal audit department
• Commitment to hiring competent personnel by having clearly stated and
documented personnel polices (e.g., hiring and firing, training, performance
evaluation, job descriptions and requirements).
• Effective Board of Directors and Audit Committee made up of independent
members of the Board of Directors, which includes a financial expert
• Communication of entity values and behavioral standards to personnel through
codes of conduct and various policy statements and by example.
• Management’s actions to remove or reduce incentives and temptation that would
encourage employees to engage in dishonest or unethical acts, e.g. channel
stuffing.

7-1
3. Internal control is designed to provide reasonable assurance that the organization’s
objectives are being met which includes improving the effectiveness of management
decision making and the efficiency of business processes. Risk assessment as one of
the components of internal control is a set of procedures whose purpose is to identify,
analyze, and manage risks. Identifying a risk that is likely to affect an organization is
the critical first step to reducing or managing the risk—a risk that is unknown can not
be controlled. Consequently, it is important for management to continually scan the
environment for new risks or changing conditions that could increase risk. By
performing risk assessment management is in a much better position to understand
how risks impact various processes and will be able to respond to those risks, by
accepting, avoiding, reducing or sharing. For some risks it may be for efficient to
avoid the risk; and for some it may be more effective to reduce or share the risk
through insurance or strategic alliances.

4. Management controls are important for organizations because they are the activities
undertaken by senior management to mitigate strategic risk to the organization, and to
promote the effectiveness of decision making and the efficiency of business activities.
In general, management controls help to determine the design, implementation, and
monitoring of the other components of internal control. They tend to focus on overall
effectiveness and efficiency rather than details of individual activities or transactions.
Without such control it is unlikely that internal controls at the activities and
transaction level would be effective in reducing the risk of material misstatement.
Management controls that help organizations meet strategic objectives by mitigating
strategic risks include: top-level reviews, direct activity management, performance
indicators and benchmarking, and independent evaluation. In performing top-level
reviews senior management periodically reviews results of operations against
forecasts and budgets. This helps them to quickly follow up on potential problems.
The more frequent and insightful these reviews are the less likely large business
threat will remain undetected. In direct activity management, managers at various
levels who are directly responsible for managing specific business processes receive
performance information on a timely basis. They are in the best position to quickly
identify problems while they are still small and in the best position to react
appropriately to early warning signals. The use of diagnostic indicators based on
operating and financial data is powerful tool for monitoring the strategic risks facing
an organization at an early stage. This tool is even more powerful if relevant
benchmarks are available. For example, potential inventory valuation problems
arising from competition may be indicated by looking at the rate at which inventory is
sold, disaggregated by product line and geographic region. Control is most effective
if exercised by someone who is independent of the operations or activities being
controlled. Failure to do this could expose the organization to undue risks. For
example, unfavorable budget variances may not be followed up aggressively unless
brought to the attention of someone who is independent of the process creating the
variances.

5. a. Failure by employees to internalize the organization’s mission and objectives:

7-2
 Individuals responsible for specific functions within the organization can operate
effectively only when they fully understand the mission and objectives of the
organization and accept their role. Failure to ensure that the message is
internalized at all levels can lead to unproductive, and possibly harmful, behavior.
For example, if employees are charged with direct activity management and don’t
understand the organizations objectives they may fail to identify early warning
signals and appropriately respond.
b. Inaccurate or out-of-date assumptions: In framing a response to external risks,
if senior management makes assumptions about the environment that is at odds
with actual conditions then the information they are using in top-level reviews
could be flawed and be less effective than expected and undermine the ability of
management to perform such reviews.
c. Undue focus on current conditions: If senior management gets caught up in the
pressure of current challenges and fails to adequately consider future plans when
determining information to use in top-level reviews this management control may
turn out to be inadequate or counterproductive.
d. Rigid organizational structure: This structure is slow to change and can impact
direct activity management and make it impossible for them to react appropriately
to early warning signals of risks.
e. Failure to enforce accountability: Much of the internal control within an
organization is based on the assumption that members of the organization will be
held accountable for their actions in accordance with the plan and structure of the
organization. If managers charged with direct activity management fail to do
their job and they know there is no enforced accountability, this will undermine
the performance of their responsibilities.
f. Communication breakdowns: Any significant breakdown in communication is
likely to undermine the efficiency and effectiveness of an organization. If there
are no independent evaluations by internal audit being done breakdowns may go
undetected.
g. Top management failure: In most major accounting frauds, it is the top
management of a company that is the source of control failure. If top
management is charged with doing independent evaluations of performance they
would be less likely to follow up on variances.

6. Client inquiry: this is often a starting point for gathering further evidence. It is
considered a weak form of evidence since the provider is not independent. By conducting
discussions with multiple individuals about similar topics, the auditor my obtain insight
into how effective management controls really are. Client inquiries will usually need to
be corroborated with other types of evidence. For example, if through discussions with
the CFO the auditor learns that the company prepares annual budgets and monitors
variances the auditor might follow up the client's responses by obtaining copies of the
annual budgets and variance reports looking for indications on how variances were
handled.

Observation: provides evidence about the performance of a management control but is

limited to the point in time at which the observation takes place. It is also limited by the

7-3
 fact that people may behave differently when they are not being watched by the auditor.
Observation is not very reliable and usually requires additional corroborating evidence.
For example, the auditor might attend management meetings to observe how the
management team deals with problems. The auditor might follow up to see if what was
discussed was actually dealt with by reviewing appropriate documentation.
Review of documentation: This type of evidence is easy to obtain and can be used to test
all of management’s controls. However, because the documentation is obtained from the
client, its reliability must be established through other procedures. For example, many
management controls rely on standard, periodic reports. The auditor should obtain copies
of any reports or documents that provide evidence about management’s efforts to control
specific risks. The report should be discussed with appropriate management, and the
auditor should obtain evidence that indicates how actual problems were addressed (e.g.,
what does management actually do with the information in the reports?).
to monitor its main competition management

7. Client’s have four options for responding to process risks. They can accept, because they
view the risk as inevitable. They can avoid, by carefully restricting their activities. They
can share the risks through insurance or strategic alliances. Or they could reduce their
risks through process control activities. When using a risk assessment diagram for
plotting potential risks, for risks that clients have chosen to reduce through
implementation of an effective control activity, the auditor would shift that risk
downward on the diagram using an arrow. This indicates that they have downgraded the
magnitude and likelihood of the risk. However, any such shifts would necessitate that the
auditor obtain evidence that the identified control responses were effective.

8. If the auditor feels that the control is effective at reducing residual risk then they would
test the control to determine whether it is operating effectively (e.g., consistently
applied). By doing control testing they will be able to reduce the amount of substantive
testing they would need to do. When the auditor concludes that a significant residual risk
exists they will not test controls and will do only substantive testing, the nature of which
will be dependent on the source and magnitude of the risk.

9. Numerous performance measures, especially ones that utilize operating or other data,
used by management to monitor risks on a routine basis may serve as a source of audit
evidence. For example, if the company prepares weekly sales reports that track turnover
by product lines, those weekly reports provided analytical evidence about the valuation of
inventory. Inventory turnover statistics will be useful to the auditor in testing for
inventory obsolescence. When using operating data the auditor must ensure that the client
has adequate information processing controls to ensure that the information is reliable. If
the performance measures used by management are obtained from independent sources,
like J.D. Powers and Associates, the auditor could place more reliance on that
information.

10. A residual risk is a strategic or process risk that is either uncontrolled by the organization
and/or exhibits quantifiable warning signals that the risk is an imminent problem. They
represent the most likely source of problems for the company and the most likely source

7-4
 of problems for the conduct of the audit. The auditor takes residual risks into account
because they help frame expectations about financial results and identify assertions,
accounts and disclosures that could be misstated. Conclusions about residual risks help
auditors modify the conduct of their audit, which could translate into performing
additional substantive tests on assertions and accounts impacted by the residual risk.
Potential residual risks are identified by performing external and internal threat analysis.
During internal threat analysis the auditor determines whether the risks are reduced
through management and process controls and being monitored through performance
measures.

11. The first thing we need to do is to identify a business risk or threat to our clients business
and the source of that threat. Next we need to identify the internal processes that are most
likely to be affected by the risk. There is a predictable relationship among the sources of
business risks and internal processes affected by the risks. Next controls that could be
used by management to mitigate the potential threat are identified. With all this
information the auditor can make informed judgments about the significance of the risks
and the financial statement account(s) that are affected.

An example of this relationship is as follows: A labor strike has been identified as a

business risk. The source of that risk is from suppliers and the internal processes that are
most likely to be affected by that risk is the human Resource and procurement processes.
Management controls in place include having regular management and labor joint
committee meetings to discuss potential problems as well as management doing
benchmarking of labor costs to ensure that their salaries and benefits are competitive.
With all this information the auditor is able to consider the potential implications.
Adverting or settling the strike could have an effect on standard cost rates, pension
accruals and even an impact on the control environment. The auditor would need to do
extra procedures related to each of these items.

Problems

1. Management controls are the activities undertaken by management to mitigate strategic

risks. They deal with overall effectiveness and efficiency within an organization rather
than on details of individual transactions or activities. Management controls can be
thought of as primarily dealing with establishing a control environment and assessing
risks, at least those dealing with overall business objectives. An auditor concerned with
assessing internal control will focus on management controls when developing a
sufficient understanding of those two elements. Process controls relate to control
activities, monitoring mechanisms, and the structure of information processing and
communication within and between business processes within the organization. In some
ways, management controls must be established before process controls (at least initially)
because business processes are put into place to help manage strategic risks and attain
business objectives. Thus, the strength of the control environment and success at
assessing risks directly impact the effectiveness of control activities, monitoring, and the
information processing and communication within the organization.

7-5
2. Student answers may vary. Some examples include:

Improve Efficiency and Effectiveness

• In-store displays and promotions are centrally planned and manufactured.
• Managers get weekly reports on sales by aisle and department.

Reliability of Accounting Information

• Managers reconcile cashiers cash drawers to their cash register tape.
• Inventory is taken at least once each quarter even though scanners keep track of
inventory as it is sold and shipping manifests keep track of what is coming.

Compliance with Rules and Regulations

• Meat is date stamped when placed on sale and removed after the “sell by” date.
• Minimum wage rates are posted on bulletin boards and all employees earn at least
that wage.

3. a. Benchmarking. The auditor will want to be concerned that the firm is categorizing
expenses correctly given subordinate incentive to manage amounts.

b. Direct activity management. This control should help the company identify potential
misappropriation of assets on a timely basis may induce the auditor to reduce his/her
assessment of audit risk.

c. Independent evaluation processes. Because the control is performed by someone

independent of the day-to-day management of the hourly workers, the control should
be more effective and will induce the auditor to reduce his/her risk assessment.

d. Top level review. The auditor may reduce inherent risk assessment for this firm
given its dedication to staying abreast of a fast-moving industry.

e. Independent evaluation process. By taking the pricing decision away from the line
managers, this is an excellent control over receivables and revenue recognition.

f. Benchmarking. This control should decrease the risk for receivables and revenue
recognition, specifically their valuation and cutoff characteristics.

g. Independent evaluation process. This control will give the auditor comfort over the
fixed assets assertion and may induce the auditor to reduce his/her risk assessment.

h. Direct activity management. May give some comfort that they are not overpaying
their consultants.

7-6
4.

Business Source of Activity Likely to Relevant Management Potential Audit

Risk/Threat Threat be Affected Controls Implications

(1) Musicians are Substitutes Operations • Market research • Audit Risk: Inventory
switching to Technology valuation may need to
synthesized guitars. Sales and Marketing be reduced to lower of
cost or market due to
obsolescence or excess
quantities.
• Audit Risk: Revenue
recognition
• Viability: Loss of
market share
• Control Environment:
Pressure to hit sales
targets to protect jobs
and/or bonuses.
(2) Blight is reducing Suppliers Inbound Logistics • Timely monitoring • Audit Risk: Direct
availability of wood Operations of supplies materials rates may
Procurement • Review technology need to be increased in
for potential standard costing
switching of raw formulas.
materials • Control Environment:
• Establish wide range Pressure to cut corners
of supply sources to meet customer
demand.
(3) Competitors are Competitors Sales and Marketing • Review of market • Viability: Loss of
releasing a line of Operations data, including time market share.
beginner-priced Technology with store owners • Audit Risk: Inventory
guitars in hopes of • Review of valuation may need to
securing brand demographics trends be reduced to lower of
loyalties among the cost or market due to
young. obsolescence or excess
quantities.
• Audit Risk: Revenue
recognition.
• Control Environment:
Pressure to hit sales
targets to protect jobs
and/or bonuses.
(4) Union contract is Suppliers Human resources • Good relationships • Audit Risk: Allocations
up for review. with union officials of labor costs may need
• Benchmarking to be revised based on
against competitors changes to union
costs contracts
• Audit Risk: Accruals
for benefits may need to
be increased
• Audit Risk: Pension
plan valuation

7-7
(5) Music stores are Customers Sales and Marketing • Proactive marketing • Audit Risk: Revenue
consolidating to just Outbound Logistics relationships with recognition.
a few large chains. distribution network • Viability: Shrinking
• Brand recognition customer base.
advertising plans • Margins will need
adjusting for analytical
procedures
(6) Chief product Customers Sales and Marketing • Proactive marketing • Viability: Loss of
spokesperson is now Competitors Human resources and endorsement market share.
endorsing a rival strategy • Audit Risk: Inventory
brand. valuation may need to
be reduced to lower of
cost or market due to
obsolescence or excess
quantities.
• Audit Risk: Revenue
recognition.
• Control Environment:
Pressure to hit sales
targets to protect jobs
and/or bonuses.
(7) Foreign producers Competitors Technology • Timely monitoring • Audit Risk: Inventory
improve the Operations of latest valuation may need to
manufacturing technologies be reduced to lower of
process and undercut cost or market due to
markets. obsolescence or excess
quantities.
• Audit Risk: Revenue
recognition
• Viability: Decreasing
margins increases
inherent risk.
• Viability: Loss of
market share.

(8) Lawsuits arising Customers Infrastructure • Aggressive litigation • Audit Risk: Contingent
from accidental Technology policy liabilities estimation
electrocution are • Review of • Viability: Costs of
mounting. production process settlements exceed
with new insurance coverage.
benchmarks • Viability: Inability to
• Review of quality obtain insurance.
control procedures • Control Environment:
May use accounting
manipulation to
disguise potential
liability.

7-8
5. a. Poorly Motivated Employees: Employee absenteeism rates, Employee satisfaction,
turnover, number of customer or co-worker complaints/employee.
b. Mismatch in Employee Placement and Expertise Required: number of
errors/employee, evaluation ratings by superiors, number of requests for new
employees, customer complaints, time to fill vacant positions
c. Discriminatory Hiring Practices: labor force demographics, percentage of minority
employees, number of minorities hired/number of minority applicants, frequency of
complaints by current or former employees, frequency of complaints from recruits,
external evaluations
d. Noncompetitive Compensation Practices: turnover, compensation rates as a
percentage of industry benchmarks, number of applicants compared to industry or
regional averages, employee survey results, exit surveys, external ratings
e. High Levels of Turnover: turnover, turnover trends, turnover compared to industry or
regional averages, employee satisfaction surveys, exit surveys, external evaluations,
number of applicants
f. Ineffective Training Programs: employee ratings of training programs, employee
feedback on training programs on a lagged basis, employee evaluation ratings before
and after training programs, employee feedback after course, employee satisfaction
surveys

6. Students’ answers may vary but should address items from Figure 7-6.

Process Risk Controls Linked to Risks Performance Measures

a. Natural Disasters disrupt • Monitor disaster • Number of times oil
oil production capabilities. recovery plans production facilities
• Management regularly have been shut down by
evaluates its exposures cause compared to prior
related to operational years and competitors
risks and adjusts the
nature of its coverage,
including deductibles
and limits.

b. Employees are seriously • Hold safety forums • Employee injury

injured during production. geared at addressing frequency compared to
safety concerns and prior years
procedures • Employee absenteeism
• Set goals to reduce • Benchmark safety
total injury frequency procedures to best
and determine practices
variances from goals
• Monitor compliance
with corporate wide
guidelines for security
and protection of
human rights

7-9
 • Meet regularly with
contractors to develop
safety standards
• Monitor results of
“Total Loss
Management” audits
c. Oil reserves are • Review forecasts on • Peer benchmarking
significantly lower than production and explain studies on oil reserves
expected. variances
• Review forecasts on
proved and probable
reserves and explain
variances
• Update reserve
estimates on a regular
basis
d. Business disruption • Monitor compliance • % of disruptions in oil
caused by public unrest with formal, sound production caused by
associated with environmental public unrest compared
environmental impacts of management and to prior years and
oil production. conservation practices competitors
• Meet regularly with
environmental activists
groups
• Have goal of zero
regulatory exceedances
with exceptions being
investigated
e. Oil production equipment • Comprehensive • Number of times
breakdowns cause oil maintenance programs equipment has broken
production disruptions. • Monitor action plans to down compared to prior
improve equipment years
performance • Benchmark data to
other oil refineries

7. a. Performance reviews: Management should actively monitor labor market

conditions, recruiting and training performance, regulatory compliance, personnel
needs and labor costs, and employee performance, behavior, attitudes, morale and
workloads.
b. Process controls: Authorization should be required for creating a position, selecting
the person to fill the position, establishing the rate of pay, assigning work schedules
(including whether there is paid overtime or not), determining appropriate mandatory
and voluntary deductions, and generating payroll checks. Appropriate documents and
records should be used to assure accurate payroll processing and recordkeeping.

7-10
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 c. Physical controls: Access should be limited, by use of personal identification numbers
for access to cash registers. Should have a sign by the cash register that your meal is
free if you don’t get a receipt.
d. Segregation of duties: Supervisors should review cash drawer reconciliations and
approve shortages and overages.

8.

Description of Problem Suggested Control Activity Suggested Performance

Indicator
A salesperson sold a • Issue authorized and dated • Margin statistics by product,
large order of processed price lists with scheduled location, customer and
chicken to a local fast automatic updates. salesperson.
food chain at a price • Verify prices before
below cost because he delivery.
did not know that the
price of chicken parts
had increased recently
due to international
shortages associated
with the H5N1 bird flu
virus.
A special sales • Market research. • Sales statistics
promotion involving • Promotion results
giving away action
figures from a new
movie failed because the
movie was a flop. The
expected increase in
sales did not occur.
Several receipts from • Cancel all documents after • Cash flow statistics
customers were entered entering them in the system. • Transaction counts
into the accounting • Reconcile postings with
system twice because deposits.
the clerk responsible for • Match payments to open
data entry took a coffee invoices.
break and forgot which
items had been
previously entered.

7-11
9. a. Likelihood of Misstatement: Reduced because senior VPs understand that the
CEO is concerned about operating effectiveness but
increased because senior VPs might attempt to
conceal poor performance by misstating results
Magnitude of Misstatement: Reduced because CEO is likely to notice large,
systematic misrepresentations by senior VPs,
particularly if he/she is actively involved in day-to-
day operations
b. Likelihood of Misstatement: Reduced because manager is likely to notice
problems in production early and get them fixed,
making misstatements from errors or fraud less
likely.
Magnitude of Misstatement: Reduced because manager is likely to notice
problems in production early and get them fixed
before systematic problems compound, leading to
large dollar problems.
c. Likelihood of Misstatement: Reduced or increased depending on the control
environment established by the risk committee. In a
strong control environment, this risk monitoring
decreases the likelihood of misstatement because
the company actively addresses independent
criticisms of its product. In a weak control
environment, the risk committee might encourage
operations managers to apply quick fixes or
misrepresent its actions to those independently
evaluating its products.
Magnitude of Misstatement: Possibly reduced if actions by management are able
to correct deficiencies identified by the independent
ratings before more product is produced, which can
lead to increased warranty claims and loss of future
sales.

7-12
10.

Plot A Plot B
a. Risk 1 The arrow indicates that the auditor This risk is considered to be
has significantly reduced the insignificant.
significance of this risk due to the
existence of effective management
controls. To support risk reductions
based on process controls the auditor
might perform and document tests of
the key controls that justify
downgrading of the risks.
b. Risk 2 The arrow indicates that the auditor The arrow indicates that the auditor
has reduced the significance of this has significantly reduced the
risk due to the existence of effective significance of this risk due to the
management controls. To support existence of effective management
risk reductions based on process controls. To support risk reductions
controls the auditor might perform based on process controls the auditor
and document tests of the key might perform and document tests of
controls that justify downgrading of the key controls that justify
the risks. downgrading of the risks.
c. Risk 3 The arrow indicates that the auditor The arrow indicates that the auditor
has reduced the likelihood of this has significantly reduced the
risk due to the existence of effective significance of this risk due to the
management controls. To support existence of effective management
risk reductions based on process controls. To support risk reductions
controls the auditor might perform based on process controls the auditor
and document tests of the key might perform and document tests of
controls that justify downgrading of the key controls that justify
the risks. downgrading of the risks.
d. Risk 4 No effective controls exist for this The arrow indicates that the auditor
risk. The auditor needs to address has significantly reduced the
the audit implications of the risk for significance of this risk due to the
the audit. This risk can have up to existence of effective management
five types of implications: (1) controls. To support risk reductions
conditioning expectations about based on process controls the auditor
financial results, (2) suggesting might perform and document tests of
financial statement misstatements, the key controls that justify
(3) raising concerns about viability, downgrading of the risks.
(4) indicating potential threats to the
control environment and or (5)
comments for client.

7-13
Cases

7-1 Alliance Management at Nike

1. Process map for alliance management business process at Nike.

Process Objectives
• Utilize athletes, universities, and franchises to enhance brand image
• Create brand loyalty by piggybacking off of loyalty to athletes, universities, and
franchises
• Identify athletes, universities, and franchises that fit within Nike's reputation for
quality and competitiveness
• Monitor alliance partners to ensure that reputations remain compatible

Process Activities
• Monitor athletes, athletic programs, and franchises to identify targets that fit with
Nike's reputation for quality and competitiveness
• Discuss an alliance with targeted partner
• Enter into contract whereby payments are made to alliance partner in exchange
for exclusive promotion of Nike brand for shoes, athletic apparel, and equipment
• Announce partnership and incorporate partner into promotion outlets (print,
television, Niketown stores, etc.)
• Monitor alliance partners to ensure contracts are followed
• Monitor alliance partner's performance and public status for renewal consid-
erations
• Renew, modify, or discontinue alliance when contract period expires

Process Data Streams: Information Feeds

• Statistics on athletes, universities, and franchises
• Consumer approval ratings of potential and current partners
• Background checks for integrity and competing alliance agreements
• Agent demands
• Consumer and market data
• Television ratings related to partner or potential partner
• Nike products that complement target partner's specialty
• Competitor data

Process Data Streams: Information Generation

• Negotiations with agents
• Contracts
• Third-party assurance for contractual requirements (sales, at-bats, tackles, etc.)
• Press release
• Marketing strategy
• Posters, print ads, product tie-ins

Accounting Impact of Activities: Routine Transactions

7-14
 • Alliance partner research
• Promotion activities
• Events involving alliance partners
• Royalty payments
• Annuity payments

Accounting Impact of Activities: Nonroutine Transactions

• Contracts with alliance partners
• Negotiations and renegotiations with alliance partners
• Announcement of products with alliance tie-ins
• Press release announcing alliance/renewal
• Costs to obtain alliance
• Bonuses to alliance partners for establishing alliance and/or exceeding contract
stipulations

Accounting Impact of Activities: Accounting Estimates

• Royalty accruals
• Recoverability of brand-specific assets
• Value of a potential alliance partner
• Annual sales related to alliance agreement
• Number and variety of products with alliance tie-ins

2. Possible internal threat analysis for Nike's Alliance Management Process

Process Risks Controls Linked to Risks Performance Measures

R1: Alliance partner selected • Formal process for • Statistics related to
that does not possess Nike- alliance partner research winning, effort, class,
level quality or • Formal approval process athleticism, tradition, etc.
competitiveness for target alliances for potential alliance
• Nike mission statement partner
includes formal • Favorability ratings of
explanation of Company's alliance partner by target
commitment to quality and demographic
competitiveness • Consumer feedback on
perceptions of Nike
quality and
competitiveness
R2: Alliances do not result in • Consumer brand • Market share versus target
increased brand recognition recognition surveys related • Target demographic
to alliance awareness metrics
• Formal promotional • Independent ratings of
strategy for athletes, promotions (posters,
universities, and franchises advertisements, etc.)
• Inclusion of alliance • Target demographic
partners in Niketown store exposure to promotions

7-15
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
was ready to go, however, she stopped on her way to the door, and
gave Mabin one long, curious look. It made the girl spring forward,
with a world of sympathy in her eyes.
“Oh, I’m so sorry for you!” she whispered. “So very, very sorry.
Much more than before I knew anything.”
Then Mrs. Dale gave way, and seeming for the first time to recover
her powers of thought and of speech, she sank down on the nearest
chair, and burst into tears, natural, healing tears, while she poured
into Mabin’s ears a broken, incoherent confession:
“It is quite true that I did it—did what she told you. But you know,
oh, Mabin, you do know how bitterly I have repented it! I would have
given my life to have been able to live those few minutes over again!
What did she tell you? Tell me, tell me! And how did she say it? Of
course she made the very worst of it; but it was bad enough without
that. Oh, Mabin, Mabin! Don’t you think she might forgive me now?”
While she talked in this wandering and excited way Mabin hardly
knew what to do; whether to try to divert her thoughts, or to let her
know in what a vixenish and hard manner the elder woman had
made the announcement of the terrible action which had cut short
one life and ruined another.
“Of course she ought to forgive you!” she said at last. “But you
must not give way to despair if she does not. She is a hard woman;
she will never treat you as tenderly as your own friends do.”
She paused, not liking to tell Mrs. Dale that the visitor was waiting
for her, and wondering whether her friend had forgotten the fact. As
she glanced toward the door, Mrs. Dale caught her eye, and
suddenly threw herself upon her knees, burying her head in the girl’s
lap.
“Oh, I daren’t, I daren’t go in—just yet!” she whispered almost
pleadingly. “I know I sent for her; I know I must see her; but now that
the moment has come, I feel as if I could not bear it. I know how she
will look—what she will say. And it is upon her, all upon her, that my
life, my very life depends!”
Mabin said nothing. She could not help thinking, from the wild
words and wilder manner of the wretched woman before her, that the
great strain of her crime and her repentance had ended by
weakening her mind. Unless——
 The girl drew a long breath, frightened by the awful possibility,
which had just occurred to her, that the grim visitor in the drawing-
room had been threatening Mrs. Dale with the extreme penalty of her
crime. Mrs. Dale’s words—“My life depends upon her!” were explicit
enough. Instinctively Mabin’s arm closed more tightly round the
sobbing woman.
“Hush, hush, dear!” she whispered soothingly. “She will not dare,
she will not dare to be more cruel than she has been already! You
must try and be brave, and to bear her hard words; but she won’t do
anything more than scold you!”
In the midst of her grief Mrs. Dale looked up in the girl’s face with a
sad smile.
“Oh, she has dared so much more than that already!” she said
hopelessly. “I don’t want to excuse myself—nothing can excuse me
—but I want you to know the share she had in it all. For she had a
share. It would never have happened but for her.”
Mrs. Dale sprang to her feet, and walking up and down the room
with her little white hands clinched till the nails marked her flesh, she
began to pour into the young girl’s ears a story which kept her hearer
fascinated, spellbound.
“Listen, listen!” said Mrs. Dale in a low, breathless voice, without
glancing at the girl. “It is not a story for you; I would never have told
you a word of it if it had not been forced upon us both. But now, as
you have heard so much, told in one way, you must hear the rest,
told in another.”
Mabin said nothing.
In fact, it seemed to her that Mrs. Dale hardly cared whether she
listened or not. She went on with her story in the same hurried,
monotonous tone, as if it was merely the relief of putting it into words
that she wanted:
“I had always been spoiled, always had my own way, until I was
married. My father and mother both died when I was a little thing of
six, and I lived with my guardian and his family, and they let me do
just as I liked. I was supposed to be rich, almost an heiress; but
when my guardian died, it was found that the money had all gone; I
had nothing. I was not yet eighteen then. And Sir Geoffrey Mallyan
wanted to marry me. Every one said I must; that there was nothing
else for me to do. I didn’t care for him; but then I didn’t care for any
one else; so nobody thought it mattered. It was taken for granted,
don’t you see, that there was no question of my saying no.”
Mrs. Dale stopped short, and for the first time looked at Mabin:
“That’s what people always think, that it doesn’t matter whom a girl
marries, if she’s very young. But it does, oh, it does! And he had a
brother——”
Mabin started, and thought at once of Mr. Banks.
“A younger brother, who had been ordered home from India on
sick leave. No, I didn’t care for him,” she went on emphatically,
reading the expression of sympathy on the girl’s face. “But he was
livelier than his grave brother, my husband, and we were very good
friends. Nobody would have thought that there was any harm in that
if old Lady Mallyan hadn’t interfered. You can guess now, I suppose,
who Lady Mallyan is!”
Mabin nodded emphatically without speaking.
“She came posting to the place to find out the evil which was only
in her own mind. We had been getting on quite well together, my
husband and I. I was rather afraid of him, but I liked him, and he was
kind to me. I believe he was really fond of me; and that I should have
grown fond of him. I was fond of him in a way; but he was fifteen
years older than I, and very quiet and grave in his manners. But he
let me do what I liked, and took me to all the dances and races I
wanted, and was proud of me, and seemed pleased that I should
enjoy myself. But when his mother came, everything was changed.
She had great influence with him, and she told him that he was
spoiling me, and making me fit for nothing but amusement, and that
these constant gayeties were ruining my character. And so he told
me, very gently, very kindly, that I must settle down, and live a
quieter life.
“I was sorry, disappointed, and not too grateful to Lady Mallyan.
Would you have been? Would anybody have been? But I submitted.
There were some scenes first, of course. I had been spoiled; I am
bad-tempered, I know; and I was indignant with her for her
interference. What harm had I been doing, after all? I was not
unhappy, however, and it was easy to reconcile myself to everything
but to her. For she seemed to have settled down in my husband’s
house, and I did not dare to hint that I resented this. Then things
went on smoothly for a time. I had given up my balls, and nearly all
what my mother-in-law was pleased to call ‘dissipations.’ But now
that I was oftener at home, I naturally saw more of Willie, my
husband’s brother, than before, since he was not strong enough to
go out so much as Sir Geoffrey and I had done.
“We were all very anxious about him, as he seemed to be on the
verge of consumption. He was very bright and amusing, however,
even then, and I was certainly more at ease with him than I was with
my mother-in-law, or even with my own husband, who was a silent
and undemonstrative man. But it was shameful of Lady Mallyan to
suspect that I cared more for him than for my husband; it never
entered into his head or mine to suppose any one would think such a
wicked thing; and certainly Sir Geoffrey would never have thought of
such a thing except at the suggestion of his mother.
“I cannot tell you, child, of the wretchedness this miserable old
woman brought about, in her jealousy at Sir Geoffrey’s love for me,
and her anxiety to get back the influence over him which she thought
I had usurped. Of course if I had been an older woman, as old as I
am now, for example, I should have rebelled; I should have insisted
on her leaving the house where she had brought nothing but misery.
I should have known how to take my proper place as mistress of the
house in which she was only an interloper.
“But I did not know how to do it, although I knew what I ought to
do.
“So it went on, the misery of every one growing greater every day,
Willie and I feeling a restraint which made us afraid to exchange a
word under her eyes; my husband growing shorter in his manner,
more reserved in his speech, having had his mind poisoned against
his brother and against me.
“At last a crisis came. Willie told us that he was going away. I knew
he was in no fit state to travel, but I did not dare to tell him to stay, or
to tell the fears I felt for him. When he was ready to go, I spoke out to
him at last. We were in the drawing-room, standing by the fire, and I
told him it was his mother who had made us all miserable and afraid
to speak to one another, and I begged him to come with me to Sir
Geoffrey, and to back me up in telling him the truth, in insisting that
Lady Mallyan should leave the house.
“ ‘If you go away now, without speaking to Geoffrey,’ I said, ‘I shall
be left in the power of this hateful, wicked woman for the rest of my
life. For she will never leave of her own accord; and I dare not speak
to Geoffrey about her with no one to back me up.’
“And then I saw Lady Mallyan’s shadow outside the window on the
path. She had been listening, she was always listening; hoping to
find out something as we said good-by.
“I ran to the window, but she escaped me. When Willie was gone, I
went to look for my husband. He was in the gun-room, looking
harder than usual. His mother had just left him. I had never seen him
look so stern, and I was frightened. I began to see that I was
powerless against the mischievous woman who was spoiling our
lives.
“ ‘Geoffrey!’ I said. ‘What has your mother been saying to you? She
has been saying something unkind I know; something untrue,
probably. What is it?’
“Then he said something which made me feel as if I had been
turned into stone. Lady Mallyan had been with him, had
misrepresented my words to Willie, had put a hideous meaning into
all we had said. I forget Sir Geoffrey’s exact words; if I remembered
them I would not repeat them. But they were cold, full of suspicion.
They roused in me a mad feeling of hatred. I can remember that I
shook till my dress rustled; that I could not speak. Then—God
forgive me! I took up a little pistol—revolver—I don’t know what they
call it; but it was something so small it looked like a toy—and, hardly
knowing what I did, I pointed it at him, and—and—he cried out, and
fell down.
“I don’t know what happened then, whether I shrieked out, or what
happened. But they came in, a lot of them, and took me away. And—
and I never saw him again. She would not even let me see him when
he lay dead. Though I begged, how I begged!”
Suddenly Mrs. Dale stopped in her speech, and crossed quickly to
the door. Flinging it open suddenly, she revealed Lady Mallyan,
standing within a couple of feet of it, erect, very pale.
Mrs. Dale smiled.
 “Come in, pray come in, your ladyship. You have not lost your old
habits, I see,” she said with cutting emphasis as she bowed to her
visitor.
 CHAPTER XIV.
NO MERCY.

It was with a throbbing brain and a heavy heart that Mabin,

dismissed by Mrs. Dale with a warm pressure of the hand and a little
pathetic smile, went through the hall and out of the house.
What was the meaning of old Lady Mallyan’s coming? Why had
Mrs. Dale sent for her? Surely, the girl felt, there could be but one
answer to this question; and in that answer lay the key to the
mystery about “Mr. Banks.”
Mabin remembered the likeness she had seen in his face, in one
of his sterner moments, to the visitor whom she now knew as Lady
Mallyan. And she could have little doubt, on putting together the
facts of the story she had just heard and the details she knew
concerning her father’s tenant, that it was indeed Sir Geoffrey
Mallyan’s brother Willie, one of the causes, if not the sole cause, of
the tragedy which had wrecked Mrs. Dale’s life, who had settled
down, unknown to the lady herself, as her nearest neighbor.
A hot blush came into Mabin’s face, alone though she was, as this
conclusion forced itself upon her. For even she, young and innocent
as she was, could not help seeing that his behavior, since he had
lived at Stone House, was inconsistent with Mrs. Dale’s account of
the blameless relations which had existed between them.
Mrs. Dale had represented this “Willie” as a light-hearted young
fellow, who had felt only the comradeship of a younger brother
toward his brother’s beautiful wife. But “Mr. Banks” had behaved, not
only like a lover, but like a lover, once favored, whom despair had
driven to the verge of madness.
On the other hand, Mabin, in her loyalty toward her friend, was
ready to believe that, even if the feelings these two unhappy
creatures had had for each other had been less innocent than Mrs.
Dale had represented, they had been themselves less to blame than
either of the two other persons concerned in the terrible history.
 Mrs. Dale, naturally enough constrained by her own remorse to
speak well of her dead husband, had yet been able to give no very
attractive picture of the man who had misunderstood his young wife,
frightened away her confidence, and allowed himself to be alienated
from her by the interference of his mother. And of that mother herself
Mabin had seen enough to be more than ready to give her her fair
share of the blame.
The young girl’s heart went out, more than it had ever done
before, to the little woman, whom nature had made so frivolous, and
circumstances so miserable, and around whom misfortune seemed
to be closing once more.
It was the one gleam of comfort she had to know how sincerely
Mrs. Dale was trying to do what was right in the matter. Instead of
attempting to see “Mr. Banks,” which would have been easy enough
for her to do, she had sent for his mother, repugnant though such a
course must always be to her; so that, whatever indiscretion she
might have shown in the past, it was clear that she meant to keep
herself free from all suspicion now.
And this was the more creditable on her part, so Mabin felt, since
the strange elation she had shown by fits and starts since the day
before, when she heard the voice of “Mr. Banks” for the first time,
proved clearly that she was not so indifferent, not so
unimpressionable, as she had professed to be.
And here Mabin felt her heart grow very tender; she pictured to
herself what she would feel, if circumstances were to put Rudolph
and herself in the same position toward each other, as were “Mr.
Banks” and “Mrs. Dale.”
If she were to have to live within a stone’s throw of him, not only
always loving, always longing, but conscious that the same feelings
which drew her heart toward him were forever drawing him toward
her.
Mabin began to cry softly. And then the application of the story to
her own case caused her thoughts to take another turn; and she
asked herself, with the generous Quixotism of her youth and her
loyal nature, whether she ought not to wish for, to encourage, the
process by which Rudolph’s love was being diverted from herself,
the uninteresting, awkward girl without any history, to the unhappy
lady around whom there clung the romance of a tragedy.
These questions, which had indeed risen in her mind before, but
which had now acquired a new force with her extended knowledge,
were entirely consistent with the bent of Mabin’s mind. Accustomed
from her childhood to consider others rather than herself, and
inclined by her own modesty to underrate her deserts as well as her
attractions, she found it easy, not indeed to stifle her own feelings,
but to control them. She told herself that she would show Rudolph no
more petulance, no more “childish” jealousy or curiosity; and if, as
seemed inevitable, he found that he had made a mistake in thinking
he cared for herself, she would be the first to wish him happiness
with a more attractive bride.
Perhaps it showed rather a touching sense of her own devotion to
her lover, that Mabin never once doubted his power to console Mrs.
Dale for all her troubles, nor that lady’s readiness to be comforted by
him.
And it was while these thoughts were fresh in her mind that Mabin,
turning the angle in the path toward the kitchen-garden, came face to
face with Rudolph.
Meeting him at such a moment, it was not surprising that she
stopped short, turned first red, then white, and presented to his view
a countenance so deeply impressed with a sort of shy alarm, that the
young man was rather puzzled as to the kind of greeting he might
expect.
Recovering herself quickly, Mabin wisely put off explanations by
dashing straight into an exciting subject:
“Oh, do you know,” she asked in a hurried, constrained voice, “that
I have had to leave poor Mrs. Dale to that dragon? Oh yes, I know
who she is now; I know who they both are. Mrs. Dale herself has told
me that, told me everything;” added Mabin, in answer to an
interrogative and puzzled look which she detected on his face.
Rudolph looked dubious.
“Everything?” he repeated doubtfully.
“And,” went on Mabin with calm triumph, “old Lady Mallyan has
told me something too. And as I had a long talk with Mr. Banks
yesterday, I think perhaps the tables are turned, and I know more
than you do now.”
Mabin seated herself, as she spoke, on the garden seat which was
placed, most charmingly as far as picturesque effect was concerned,
but most inconveniently, if one considered earwigs and green flies,
under a tall lime-tree and against a dark hedge of yew. Rudolph was
intensely relieved to find that her jealous and angry mood of the
evening before had passed away; and although he was puzzled by
her new manner, which was easy, friendly, but not affectionate, he
thought it better to fall in with her mood and not to risk the pleasure
of the moment, by asking for explanations just yet. Mabin, on her
side, felt a curiously pleasant sense of present enjoyment and
irresponsibility. It was happiness to be with Rudolph, without any
dispute to trouble their intercourse. And she found that by turning his
attention and her own away from themselves to the subject of Mrs.
Dale and her troubles, she got not only the full delight of Rudolph’s
attention, but the satisfaction that she was stifling, if not conquering,
her own weakness.
Rudolph was charmed by the new and undefinable change to
greater frankness, to less shyness, in her manner.
“Well,” said he, pulling down the bough of a guelder rose-tree and
beginning with great precision to strip off the leaves, “I couldn’t help
myself, could I? I couldn’t tell you somebody else’s secrets without
permission. And you see you haven’t had to wait very long to know
all about it.”
“Oh, I’m not thinking about that,” said Mabin superbly. “It was
annoying at the time not to know what you were all talking about; but
I soon got over that. What I am thinking about now is the best thing
to be done for Mrs. Dale. You know who this Mr. Banks is, I
suppose?”
Her assumption of a lofty standpoint of deep knowledge combined
with great indifference amused Rudolph.
“Do you?” retorted he.
“I suppose,” she answered almost in a whisper, and looking down
on the ground as she spoke, “that he is Lady Mallyan’s son Willie.”
Rudolph looked astonished.
 “You do know something then!” said he at last. “Yes, I suppose he
is.”
“And Mrs. Dale knows it?—knew it yesterday, I suppose?—when
she heard his voice?”
“Yes, I think so, I suppose so. But I must tell you that she was so
much upset that I didn’t attempt to ask her any questions about it. I
only tried to quiet her, and offer, when she said she must see Lady
Mallyan, to send off the telegram.”
Mabin, too much excited to sit still, sprang to her feet on the gravel
path beside him.
“Isn’t it hard? Oh, isn’t it hard for her? She does exactly what is
right, what is best. She ought not to be persecuted by either of them,
by mother or son!”
But instead of answering her fervent outbreak in the same tone, or
at least with sympathy, she saw, to her indignation, that Rudolph had
difficulty in suppressing a smile.
“The persecution won’t last long,” said he. Then noting the
revulsion of feeling expressed in Mabin’s face, he added quickly:
“When Lady Mallyan and Mr. Banks meet, they will have to come to
an understanding; and I can answer for it that after that Mrs. Dale will
be left in peace.”
“That’s what Mr. Banks himself seems to think,” said Mabin
ingenuously. “But Lady Mallyan was shocked when she heard he
lived so near, and she doesn’t want to meet him.”
Rudolph was in an instant on fire with excitement.
“Oh, doesn’t she, though? Then I’ll take jolly good care that she
shall!” He took three or four rapid steps away from her and came
back again. His face was glowing with excitement. “Look here,
Mabin, I want you to mount guard over the house, and see that the
old lady doesn’t get away before I get back with Mr. Banks. Mind, it is
very important. You must do anything rather than let her go. It’s just
possible she may get an idea of something of the kind, and may try
to get away.”
“All right,” said Mabin very quietly, but none the less showing in the
firm set of her lips and the steadiness of her eyes that she would
prove a firm ally. “But don’t be long gone; for I am afraid of what may
be going on between that hard woman and poor little Mrs. Dale!”
 “I’ll be as quick as I can. You may trust me.”
And then, taking her entirely by surprise, he flung his arms round
her, pressed upon her startled lips a long kiss, and ran off before she
had breath to utter a word.
She had just sense enough left to remember her promise, to
stagger round to the front of the house, and to take her place as
sentinel under the dining-room wall. There was no window on this
side, the space where one had originally been having been blocked
up and filled with a painted imitation of one. It was impossible
therefore for Mabin to tell, in this position, whether the interview
between the two ladies was over or not.
So she went into the hall, where it was now so dark that she felt
her way, stumbling, in the direction of the dining-room door. She was
close to it before she was assured, so low was the voice speaking
within the room, that the ladies were still there. But the piteous,
subdued tones of Mrs. Dale, which met her ear as she came near,
told her that the little lady in black was still pleading to her tyrant.
Withdrawing quickly, her heart throbbing in sympathy with the
unfortunate woman, Mabin returned to the garden, and waited near
the garden gate.
She now had leisure to dwell on that intoxicating kiss, which had
for the moment thrown her back into the world of happiness into
which Rudolph’s avowal of love had introduced her, and from which
more recent events had seemed to combine to thrust her out. Could
it be that he was still the same as ever, in spite of her jealous fears,
of her Quixotic imaginings? Mabin’s brain seemed to be set on fire at
the thought. She began to look out at the treeless fields which lay
between “The Towers” and the sea, with eyes which saw nothing.
Though mechanically from time to time she turned to glance at the
front door of the house, she had forgotten for whom she was
watching.
Suddenly she was startled by the sound of light footsteps on the
gravel behind her, and looking round, she saw the parlormaid
running toward the gate.
“The cab, miss, have you seen the cab? The lady wants to go
now, and of course the stupid man is out of sight.”
 “It is at the corner of the road,” answered Mabin, waking up to the
realities of life with a start. “But don’t go for it yet. Mr. Bonnington
wants to speak to Lady Mallyan first.”
The girl was evidently startled and impressed by the discovery that
Mabin knew the visitor’s name. She hesitated.
“But she wants to catch a train, miss!” she protested at last.
As Mabin was about to answer, a figure in the road outside caught
her eye. The maid saw it too.
“Who—who was that?” Mabin asked quickly.
The maid, who looked rather scared, hesitated, stammered.
“Was it—Mrs. Dale?” pursued Mabin almost in a whisper.
And as she spoke, her heart sickened with a vague fear. Quickly
as the form had passed by, and disappeared from sight in the deep
shadows of the trees at the bend of the road below, there had been
something about its rapid and noiseless flight, in the very bend of the
head and flutter of the dress, which alarmed the young girl.
Besides if it was Mrs. Dale, what was she doing, at this late hour
of the evening, on the road which led down to the cliff, to the sea?
She must have gone out by the door at the back of the house, too;—
surely a strange thing to do!
But even as these thoughts crowded into her mind, there came
another and less disquieting one. The road she had taken passed
the front of “Stone House;” perhaps she had gone to seek herself an
interview with “Mr. Banks.”
Even as she made this suggestion to herself, and while the voice
of the maid still murmured that she must go and fetch the cab, Mabin
heard men’s voices in the road below.
Recognizing that of Rudolph, she stepped outside the gates, and
waited with anxiety for his appearance.
But he came slowly; perhaps, thought Mabin, he was talking to
Mrs. Dale. She listened more intently; but as the voices came
gradually nearer, she was able to assure herself that they were only
those of Rudolph and of “Mr. Banks.” Scarcely able to control her
anxiety, she stepped out through the gates into the road, at the very
moment that Lady Mallyan’s harsh voice sounded behind her,
speaking to the parlormaid:
“Where is my cab?”
 Rudolph heard these words, and he hurried forward with his
companion. It was now almost dark. Mabin saw who the man was
beside him, but she could not distinguish his face.
“I beg your pardon, madam,” said Rudolph, raising his hat and
walking quickly after the old lady, who had passed through the gate
and was hurrying down the road: “Your son wishes to speak to you.
He cannot walk so fast as you, but he has sent me with this
message.”
She stopped short, appeared to hesitate, and then turned back
without a word.
It was close to where Mabin stood, stupidly, not knowing exactly
what was going to happen, or what she ought to do on behalf of Mrs.
Dale, that mother and son met.
Dark as it was out there, with only a line of pale yellow light left in
the horizon, shading off through sea-green into the blue above,
Mabin saw enough to know that the meeting was one of deep import.
Old Lady Mallyan seemed uneasy; the harshness which Mabin had
hitherto believed to be her most salient quality had almost
disappeared from her tones as she addressed her son:
“I am sorry,” she said, quite gently, as she put out her arms toward
him, “to find you here. It can do no good. It might have done great
harm. Why did you not let me know where you were? Why did you
deceive me?”
But “Mr. Banks” did not accept the offered caress of the
outstretched arms.
“I will tell you why, mother, presently. But now, where is Dorothy? I
want to see her. I must see her. Surely,” he went on as she did not at
first answer, “surely she will see me now you are here. Surely she
will not refuse!”
There was again a silence of a few seconds, during which Mabin,
who had only withdrawn a little way, and who was striving to attract
the attention of Rudolph, who stood with his back to her, uttered a
little cry of pain and distress.
Mr. Banks went on impatiently:
“Where is she? Is she in the house? I must go to her; I must see
her!”
 Then Lady Mallyan spoke, in a voice which was greatly changed.
She seemed to be trying to control some real alarm.
“You cannot,” she said quickly. “She will not see you. She refuses
—absolutely. As a gentleman you cannot persist. She is as hard and
cold-hearted as ever. She will not see you again. She has gone
away.”
At these words, which Mabin heard, the young girl uttered a sharp
cry. But “Mr. Banks” did not heed her. He spoke again, in such
piteous tones that Mabin and Rudolph, young and susceptible both,
felt their hearts wrung.
“Mother, I must see her, I must. Once, once only, I won’t ask for
more. Go after her; go after her. Tell her I love her, I love her always.
She will not refuse to see me once—before—before I die!”
Mabin waited no longer. Rushing between the mother and son,
she panted out:
“I will go. I will fetch her! I will bring her back. And she will come!
Oh, she will come! She is not hard. Trust me, trust me, she will come
—she shall come.”
She gave him no time for more than a hoarse whisper of thanks,
and a murmured blessing. She was off, down the hill, as if on the
wings of the wind.
And as she drew into the black shadow of the trees on the hill, she
heard footsteps and a voice behind her:
“Mabin! Mabin! Don’t be frightened. Where has she gone, dear?
Where has she gone?”
Panting, breathless, not halting a moment as she ran, Mabin
whispered, in a low voice which thrilled him:
“Down the hill—this way. Oh, Rudolph! You don’t think she’s gone
to the sea, do you?”
“Don’t let us think about it, dear. If anything has happened to her, it
is the fault of that old woman’s bitter tongue.”
“Oh, don’t let us talk. Let us hurry on. We may be in time yet.”
“We may.”
There was little hope in his tone. At the bottom of the road he,
slightly in front, hesitated.
“To the left—to the high part of the cliff, by the sea-mark,” directed
Mabin briefly. “Don’t wait for me. I am getting lame again. Run on
alone.”
So Rudolph ran. And, behind the fir-plantation a little further on, he
disappeared from her sight.
Mabin, her lame foot paining her a little, limped on after him with a
sinking heart.
 CHAPTER XV.
SOME EXPLANATIONS.

Mabin trudged along the chalky, dry road in the fast-gathering

darkness, oppressed by fears. What if Rudolph should not be in
time. Now it seemed clear to the girl that poor Mrs. Dale had started
on that solitary walk in a frenzy of despair, goaded to a mad act by
the taunts of Lady Mallyan.
And if he were in time, what would the end of it be? She could not
marry her husband’s brother, even if she had returned the love he
bore her. Yet, since he had asked so piteously for a few words with
her, it was impossible to refuse him.
Mabin’s warm heart was full of sympathy for them both; for the
woman who had erred so grievously, but who had gone through such
a bitter repentance: for the man who, whatever his weakness, his
indiscretion, had suffered and been constant.
In the mean time, Rudolph had reached the bare stretch of sandy
waste which extended along the cliffs beyond the last of the
straggling houses. The tide was coming in below, each little wave
breaking against the white wall of chalk with a dull roar, followed by a
hissing sound as the water retreated among the loose rocks.
Not a living creature was to be seen, although his seaman’s eyes
saw a long way in the dusk.
The fears which had haunted him as he ran grew stronger. He
looked over with a cold sensation of dread at the water beneath the
cliff. He listened, and at last he called:
“Mrs. Dale! Are you anywhere about, Mrs. Dale?”
He was conscious that his voice had not the ring of careless
heartiness which it was meant to have. And there was no answer.
He had come to a gap, by which carts and horses went down to
the shore to bring away sand and seaweed. A dark object, half
hidden in a cranny of the chalk, met his eye. He ran down, and as he
approached the thing sprang up and started away from him. But he
gave chase, came up with the flying figure as it reached the edge of
the water, and caught at the black draperies as he ran.
The long black veil gave way, and remained a limp rag in his hand.
But the flying figure stopped.
“Why do you come? Why can’t you leave me alone?” she asked
fiercely.
And as she turned upon him, he saw in her large, blue eyes, which
looked dark and unnaturally bright in the dusk, something of the
passionate temper which she had learned by sad experience to
control.
Rudolph hesitated. There was a doubt in his mind which made him
choose his words.
“He wants to see you, he says he must see you,” he said at last, in
a low voice. “He told Lady Mallyan so. You cannot, you will not
refuse to come.”
But a sudden change to terror came over her beautiful face. To
Rudolph’s great perplexity and distress, she burst into a violent fit of
crying.
“I can’t go, I can’t see him. After what she said! I can’t. I would
rather die!” Rudolph did not know what to say. His vague and
awkward attempts to comfort her were quite without effect, and at
last he contented himself by waiting in impatient silence, for the
arrival of Mabin. As he expected, the young girl found them out
quickly, guided by the piteous sobs of Mrs. Dale.
“Don’t cry so, dear, don’t cry. The old woman will never dare to
worry you again,” were the words which Mabin whispered into the
ears of the weeping woman, as she threw her arms round her, and at
once began to try to drag her up the slope toward home. “She’s
ashamed of herself already. And you will not have to meet her alone.
Remember that.”
Under the influence of her gentle words, and still more persuasive
caresses, Mrs. Dale speedily became calmer. And although she at
first resisted all her friend’s efforts to lead her back toward the house
she had left, she presently listened to and began to answer Mabin’s
words.
“I will come with you a little way,” she said in a tremulous voice.
“You are a sweet, dear girl, and I love you for your goodness. But
you must let me go to the station, and get away.”
Mabin paused before trying her final shot.
“You must come, dear,” she whispered, “because there is some
one who wants to see you; some one who is not strong enough to
come after you himself.”
At these words Mrs. Dale, who had begun to walk slowly up the
hill, leaning on Mabin’s arm, stopped short and began to tremble
violently.
“Who—is—that?” she asked hoarsely, with apparent effort,
keeping her eyes fixed on those of her companion with such
searching intentness that the young girl was alarmed.
“Mr. Banks,” whispered the girl. “And listen, dear. He only wants to
see you just once; he said so. And he is ill, you know, so I think you
ought. And since he has loved you all this time——”
Mabin stopped short. For as she uttered these words a cry
escaped from Mrs. Dale’s lips, a cry so full of poignant feeling, so
plaintive, so touching, that it was evident she was moved to the
inmost depths of her nature.
Clinging to Mabin with trembling fingers, gazing into her eyes with
her own full of tears, she said in a low, broken voice:
“He said that? He—really—said—that?”
“Why, yes, he did,” answered the girl, not knowing whether to be
glad or sorry that the admission had escaped her.
Not another word was uttered by either of them; but Mrs. Dale
began to walk so fast that Mabin, whose ankle had not yet recovered
all its own strength, found great difficulty in keeping up with her, and
Rudolph, who had been ahead of them, had now to drop behind.
It was not until they reached the hill on the top of which “The
Towers” stood, that Mrs. Dale’s steps slackened, and her face
become again overclouded with doubt and fear.
“Is—she with him? Was she with him when you came away?” she
asked in a meek and plaintive little voice.
Mabin had to confess that the dreaded “she” had been with him.
And Mrs. Dale faltered again, and had to be further helped and
further encouraged. At last, however, the top of the hill was reached,
and “The Towers” came in sight.
 But the place seemed to be deserted. No one was at the gates;
there was no light at any of the windows. A sense of desolation crept
into the hearts of both the ladies as they made their way, with slower
steps, toward the house. Rudolph hastened forward to open the gate
for them. He went through into the garden, and came out again
quickly.
“Mabin,” he said then, putting his hand lightly on her arm, “let Mrs.
Dale go in. I want to speak to you.”
Mabin hesitated, for Mrs. Dale was clinging to her arm with an
almost convulsive pressure. And then the girl saw that within the
garden gates, looking deadly pale in the light of the newly risen
moon, “Mr. Banks” was standing. As Mabin disengaged herself from
her companion, he came forward, almost staggering, and held out
his arms.
“Dorothy! Dorothy!” he whispered hoarsely.
Mrs. Dale uttered a sound like a deep sigh. Then she made one
step toward him. But as he approached her, with a pathetic look of
love, of yearning in his eyes, she tottered, and would have fallen to
the ground if he had not caught her.
Then, reaching Mabin’s astonished ears quite distinctly, as she
stood, anxious, bewildered, at a little distance, came these words in
Mrs. Dale’s voice:
“Oh, have you forgiven me? Will you ever forgive me, Geoffrey!
Geoffrey!”
Mabin swung round on her feet and all but fell into Rudolph’s
arms.
“Then—Mr. Banks—is her husband!” she gasped, in such a whirl
of joyous excitement that she did not notice how unduly gracious to
Rudolph her excitement was making her.
“Yes. Didn’t you guess?”
“N-n-no. Did you?”
“Yes.”
“She didn’t tell you then?”
“No. She didn’t know herself, I am sure. But she began to wonder
and to suspect. And yet she didn’t dare, not knowing, I suppose,
poor little woman, how he felt toward her, to meet him. So she did
the worst thing possible, and sent for his mother. And no doubt the