Of course not, why should I? What was there in my circumstances to occasion it? Nothing, of course; and nothing, either, to fret about in Josephine's taunts and Grace's sauciness, in the cold eyes of my aunt, in Ella's supercilious scorn; nothing to fret about when the captain talked of the murder and the evidence, the state of the public mind, and the state of his own private mind, in regard to it; when Ellerton talked about the news from town, and the letters he had just received from some of his inestimable chums there resident, and of the inexplicable nature of the fact that none of them had spoken of meeting or seeing Victor before he sailed, and of his own conviction that it was very strange we had heard nothing from him since he left, _very_ strange. "Oh!" cried Grace, "that's the way, they say, with these foreigners, adventurers, may be. You mustn't be astonished, my dear (turning pleasantly to me), you mustn't be astonished if you shouldn't hear from him 'never no more.' These French meteors, they say, sometimes flash through society in that way, and dazzle everybody, then sink into their native night again. And you know it is just possible our Victor may be of that order; but, of course, I don't want to distress you, only it's as well you should be prepared." "Grace, hush! you are a saucy child; but really it _is_ odd that we have never heard a word from him since he left." "Did you expect to, Josephine? I didn't suppose you had made any arrangements to correspond. I am sorry I didn't know how deep your interest was, I might have relieved your mind before. Mr. Viennet is very well. I have heard from him more than once since we parted." An exclamation of surprise went round the table; I was overwhelmed with questions and reproaches. "You might have told us, really, now I think," said Ellerton. "Why did you not ask me, then?" "Why, we thought you'd tell, to be sure. We didn't know how sacred you considered his epistles." "What sort of a journey did he have? What day did he get in town?" "He didn't say much about his journey. I fancy from something he said that he met with some detentions." "Didn't he send any messages to anybody?" "None that I remember." "Ungrateful rascal!" "He succeeded, I suppose, in getting a state-room? He had some fears that he would be too late." "He didn't say a word about it." "Absurd! what did he talk about, then?" "Not about his journey, nor his stateroom, nor you, Josephine; but you know there are more things, and as interesting, in heaven and earth, to us both, strange as it may seem to you." "_Pardon!_ I had forgotten!" "You won't hear again before the Persia is in, will you?" "That will be in three weeks, will it not?" "Yes; that will be after we are at Newport. To whose care do your letters come addressed?" "Really, Mr. Wynkar, you are too kind. Your interest is so unexpected!" "Let us all drink to his _bon voyage_," said the captain, filling my glass.