“Can I have a few moments’ conversation with you?” the young man asked, gravely. “Certainly; as many as you wish. Shall we retire to the privacy of the library?” returned Mr. Richards, who at once jumped to the conclusion that he was about to receive a formal proposal for the hand of his daughter. So also thought another listener, who happened to be standing on the veranda just outside the open window of the music-room, and who had caught the above sentences. “No,” Lord Carrol returned. “What I have to say can just as well be said here as anywhere. I find myself unexpectedly in a very unpleasant situation, and I have come at once to you, because I consider a straightforward course the wisest always to pursue. I wish to tell you a little story, and then ask your assistance in correcting an awkward mistake.” “Anything that I can do for you, my lord, I shall be most happy to do,” blandly affirmed Mr. Richards, little realizing what he was promising, while he followed the young man’s example and sat down to listen to his narrative. “I came over from England, nearly a year ago, on the steamer ——,” he began, “and on board that vessel I met a young girl of great personal beauty and intelligence, in whom I became intensely interested. She could not have been more than sixteen years of age, but her mind was far in advance of both her appearance and her years, while it was evident that she had been reared with great care, for every word and act betrayed her to be a perfect little lady, and every day spent in her society only served to make her more attractive in my sight. At parting, I gave her a trifle as a souvenir of our pleasant acquaintance, and asked in return for something to keep in memory of her. I did not know that I should ever meet her again, and had I not done so, the remembrance of what I had enjoyed in her society would eventually have become, it is probable, but a pleasant episode of the past, although I must confess that her face haunted me continually. “But I did meet her again, and only a very short time ago. She had changed—developed into even greater beauty, and had become more mature, and I began to realize at once that I had even a deeper interest in her than I had imagined possible. Subsequent interviews—for I took pains to see her often—and the study of her character, convinced me that I had found the woman whom I could love with all my heart, and whom I should win for my wife if I could.” A rustling of the drapery at the open window just then made the young lord pause; but hearing nothing more, he thought the wind had simply stirred the curtains, and continued: “Within a very few days I have brought things to a crisis—have, in fact, asked and secured a promise from her to become my wife as soon as she shall have completed her education, and I had intended to-morrow to seek an interview with her friends and make formal proposals for her hand.