LORD FALMOUTH--Continued ARTHUR CHAPTER I THE LETTER _Lord Falmouth to Arthur._ "ON BOARD THE YACHT _Gazelle._" 13 June, 18--. "I might have told you all that I now mean to write, dear friend, but that I desire you to keep this letter. "If the projects that I now propose are ever realised, we will read this with pleasure some future day and remember that it was the starting-point of the glorious career that I have imagined for both of us. "If, on the contrary, fate should separate us, these pages will remain as the true story of the circumstances that inspired the sincere attachment I have for you. "The first time I met you was at a breakfast given by M. de Cernay. Your agreeable conversation pleased me at first; then, from a peculiar habit of thought I noticed in you, I saw that, with all your charm and cordiality, you would remain for ever separated from your fellow men by an unsurmountable barrier. "From that moment I began to take a lively interest in you. "I knew from experience that eccentric characters such as yours suffer cruelly from the isolation to which they condemn themselves; for these proud, sensitive, and easily offended natures can not readily assimilate themselves with the rest of mankind,--they are constantly being wounded or taking offence, and they instinctively create for themselves a solitude in the midst of society. "I left for England under the domination of such thoughts as these. "In London I met several of your friends, who spoke in such a way as to confirm the opinion I had formed of you. "I found you some months after in the house of Madame de Pënâfiel, in whom you seemed much interested. "As at that time I shared the ill-feeling that was manifested in society towards her, and you had not yet told me of her real worth, I was astonished to see you, of all men, seeking happiness in a liaison with a woman who was recognised as a flirt, for I thought that your great susceptibility must of necessity be continually wounded in such a relation with Madame de Pënâfiel. "Men like you, my friend, are endowed with such extraordinary tact, finesse, and clear-sightedness, that they are very seldom mistaken in the women on whom they choose to bestow their affections. Is not this true? Were not Hélène and Marguerite both worthy of your love? Therefore, let me advise you in this much, always trust blindly in your first impressions. "I tell you this because I feel how much I love you, and it must be that you instinctively love me, too. "Pardon me this digression; let us return to the marquise. "As long as I saw that you were happy I was only interested in you because so much evil was said about you. "But very soon this war that was being waged against you became so general and violent, the calumnies were so fierce, that I began to believe Madame de Pënâfiel was worthy of your love and that you deserved hers. Later, you told me everything and I recognised my first error; then came your cruel rupture.