He then went on and explained at length how it had transpired; how he had found Brownie, cold and trembling, and exhausted from excitement and terror, in the grove in the rear of the Hall, and had persuaded her to give him the right to protect her at once. He explained their journey to London, in company with Nurse Clum and Milly, and concluded by saying: “We intended returning hither immediately, but unforeseen circumstances prevented; and when at length I was enabled to come, you were gone to the Continent. We should not have intruded upon you to-day had we not deemed it best to secure this casket before Sir Charles and his wife should leave again.” When the young man concluded there was an awkward silence for a few moments, except for Mrs. Coolidge’s whispering to Isabel, and then, lifting her haggard face, Lady Randal asked: “Well, what are you going to do about it?” “What are we going to do about it, madam?” exclaimed Lord Dunforth, in astonished tones. “I should ask, what are you going to do about it? Of course, we all expect to see justice done at once.” “You shall,” she said, eagerly; adding: “Yes, it is all true. We were traveling that summer when he was born; we were stopping just at the time in a picturesque village in Savoy, and my husband was called away to Paris on business. He was absent a fortnight, during which time Herbert was born. I can never tell you,” she went on, shuddering, “what a frightful object he was. His present appearance is nothing to what he was as a baby, and I prayed the nurse to take him from my sight, and never let me look upon him again. My husband was detained long beyond the time he had anticipated, so that at the end of three weeks I was well and strong again. Then it came to me that, as he had not been with me, and fully believing that the child could not live long anyway—both the doctor and the nurse affirmed it—I deemed it would be better to keep all knowledge of its existence from him. I could not travel with it in its feeble state, and it would be exceedingly painful to do so if I could, so I made arrangements with the nurse to care for it as long as it should live, and never let any one know whose child it was.