“This may sound rather strange to you, knowing my position, and realizing something of the prejudice of the English against marrying outside the pale of their own rank. But I was convinced from the first that this young girl was of good blood and parentage, and upon a more intimate acquaintance with her, I have learned that her mother was an English lady from an excellent family. “Now, what I have to tell you,” Lord Carrol continued, with a smile, “has a slight touch of romance connected with it. When I left England, I came away known as Sir Archibald Sherbrooke, baronet. Two months after my arrival here, I was notified of the death of my mother’s only brother—Lord Carrol, of Carrolton—and who, being a widower and childless, willed his estates and all that he possessed to me, with the provision that I was to assume his name, and consequently his title. “It would have suited me better to travel and remain plain Archibald Sherbrooke, as I always called myself, until my return; but I was with a company of friends—all artists, who were traveling and studying with an old painter—who knew all the circumstances, and they would not hear a word to my remaining incognito, and insisted upon introducing me everywhere by my newly acquired title. “As plain Archibald Sherbrooke, I met, wooed, and won the young lady of whom I have told you, but I intended, when I formally asked for her hand, to reveal the circumstances which have made me Lord Carrol. I have not for a moment thought of deceiving her, for I abhor double-dealing of any kind; but, notwithstanding, I find myself in a very awkward situation. “You will, perhaps, be surprised to learn that to-night, since going out after dinner, I met my betrothed by accident, and very much to my astonishment. She had discovered that I have been sailing ‘under two flags,’ or, as she supposed, under false colors. She had heard of my meeting your daughter at Long Branch as Lord Carrol, and the report seems to have preceded me, much to my surprise”—here the young man colored from embarrassment—“that I intended something more than a friendly visit here, and she has passionately denounced me for my duplicity—as it appears to her—and refused even to allow me to explain my position. “This is the mistake that I wish you to help me rectify by securing an interview for me with her, so that I can exonerate myself from all blame in her sight.” Mr. Richards was greatly astonished at what he had heard, and in no small degree disappointed, for he liked the young man, and his wife had affirmed that Josephine was the magnet that had drawn his lordship thither, and she had also confidently asserted that he would propose for her hand before he left. But, of course, he could not betray anything of this feeling, after having been made the confidant of another love affair; therefore he said, with as much self-possession as he could command: