“Then the quicker you marry her, and relieve her dire necessity the better,” his lordship said, little thinking how he was committing himself. “Thank you. Yes, sir, it came to that, as I told you some six or eight months ago.” “But—what is this? Why, you were in America at that time,” and he began to fidget uneasily. “Yes, sir; I met the lady in America.” “Ah, ha!” This time Lord Dunforth scowled disapprobation. He had the English prejudice against English nobility intermarrying with American plebeianism, so-called. Adrian noticed his look, and his heart sank. “My lord,” he said, “you have seen the lady, and acknowledged her loveliness. I heard you tell Sir Charles that she was very beautiful, and too much of a lady for the position which she occupies. I assure you, and I speak advisedly, that she is of good birth, and fitted in every way to be my wife. She is companion to Lady Ruxley. Have I still your permission to marry her?” His lordship stared at his grandson in dismay. “Miss Dundas, Adrian!” he exclaimed, aghast, his fine face flushing a deep crimson. “Miss Douglas, my lord,” corrected Adrian, somewhat proudly. His lordship did not notice the correction. His head was bent in deep thought, his brow was knotted, his lips compressed. At length, looking up, he said, with emotion: “My boy, your happiness is of the greatest importance to me, and has always been my first consideration. I know what it is to love deeply, and the anguish which follows the loss of a loved one”—his voice quivered painfully. “But,” he added, “it is better to give up an unworthy love than to marry beneath you, and then repent of it when it is too late.” “Sir, the lady is not unworthy, and I shall never repent making her my wife,” Adrian said, indignantly; then continued, speaking rapidly: “I told you that she descended from a highly respectable family. They were English, too, and removed to America many years ago. They were very wealthy at that time, but a series of misfortunes deprived them of this. I learned this from my friend, Gordon, whom, you remember, I met two years ago in Germany. He vouched for her respectability, and told me he had seen the ‘family tree,’ and that they traced back their ancestry to the Scottish nobility.” “But it must be very remote. Besides, she was born and reared in America, and has not a friend living, as you say, to prove her respectability, and all this would be very disagreeable to establish.” “The fact that I have chosen her for my wife would be sufficient to establish her respectability without any questioning,” replied Adrian, proudly. “But I want you to have an English wife, Adrian—one who will fill her position proudly and creditably.” “I am as eager for that, my lord, as you can possibly be,” said the young man, with a quiet smile, as he thought how perfectly Brownie would reign in those grand old halls. “How came she to be in England if she was so reduced in circumstances?”