“Then I understand--you see, Mr. Lauriston, I speak as a person of some authority in this matter--you have a home for her to which you wish to take her as quickly as possible.” “I am sorry to say I have not, sir. I am only a lieutenant now in the --th Hussars.” Mr. Angelo gave him a sudden, keen look. “Lord Florencecourt’s regiment!” he said, as if struck by the circumstance. Lauriston scarcely noticed the interruption. “Yes,” continued he, “with scarcely anything but my pay. But I hope to get my step next year, or the year after at latest, when I could marry at once.” “Pray do not think me impertinent; this is to me a matter of business, and must be discussed plainly. Miss Weston has some extravagant notions, and may have given you the idea that her mother would continue to be indulgent should she marry. It is right to inform you that this is not the case. The Countess’s income has suffered during the recent depression in rents, and--” “I should never marry unless I could keep my wife,” interrupted Lauriston abruptly. “I have been offered work on two military papers whenever I care to take it up, so that I shall not only be able to save, but to pay for Nouna’s maintenance and education in some good school on the understanding that she is to marry me on leaving it. Anything that you or the Countess can wish to know about my family--” The old lawyer raised his hand slowly. “--is easily known. You are a relation, I suppose, of the late Captain Lauriston of the -- Dragoon Guards?” “I am his son.” “Ah! Your great-uncle, Sir Gordon Lauriston, was a client of my father’s. You wish, I understand, to communicate with Madame di Valdestillas? Any letter that you leave in our care will be forwarded at once to her.” These words re-awoke Lauriston’s remembrance of the mysterious lady who had followed him to his quarters the night before. “As Madame di Valdestillas is now in England,” he said quietly, “why should I not have her address?” The old lawyer remained as unmoved as a mummy by this dashing stroke, but a sudden movement on the part of the less sophisticated Mr. Smith did not escape the young man’s notice. “If she is in England--which is very possible, as her movements are as uncertain as the winds--she has only just arrived, as we have not yet seen her. But if you will write to her under cover to me, I can promise you the letter will soon be delivered to her, as her first visit on coming to England is always to us.” “But she was at her daughter’s house last night!” “Indeed! Then why did you not speak to her yourself?” Lauriston was disconcerted. The manner and voice of the old lawyer expressed such bland surprise, that he began to think he had discovered a mare’s nest, and answered in a far less bold tone. “I saw a lady whom I believed to be the Countess. I may have been mistaken--”