“No; my time was so fully occupied that I found it impossible to make any calls,” he returned, a shade of sadness coming into his fine eyes as he thought of _how_ his time had been employed and the unhappiness it had caused him. “You received my little package, I perceive,” Josephine said, glancing at the cameo upon his hand, and with a flush rising to her cheeks. “Yes; did you not receive my acknowledgment of it?” he asked, in surprise. “No; I have never heard anything from you,” she answered, with downcast eyes. “But I wrote, thanking you. You must have thought me lacking in courtesy,” Lord Carrol said, regretfully. “No—but—Lord Carrol, there has been a misunderstanding about that jewel from the first. I really do not know what you believe regarding it, for your note was somewhat ambiguous, and I trust you will allow me to explain more fully to you sometime how I happened to have it,” Josephine replied, with an appealing glance at him from her brilliant dark eyes. He bowed somewhat coldly in return. He could not forget that his darling had said that she _stole_ it from her—that one little treasure which she had prized more than anything else in the world, and there could be no excuse for, no explanation of, an act so cowardly and cruel, he thought. “I presume you have heard that we have come to reside in England,” the artful girl continued, desiring to change the topic of conversation, yet determined to keep him by her side. “So I have been told. How do you like England and English people so far?” he asked. “Very much. We have been down to Halowell Park, where we expect to reside most of the year, and it is delightful there. I hope now that we shall sometime see your home, of which you have told us so much. We intend to become familiar with all of England.” “I little thought that day at Long Branch, when Mrs. Richards was telling me that you were relatives of Sir Charles Thornton, that you would eventually become his heirs,” Lord Carrol said, ignoring her evident desire that he should invite her to visit his home, and little dreaming that such an invitation had already been given by his mother. “Mamma thought of it, however, although she did not really expect anything of the kind. Do you remember her asking you if Sir Charles had any family?” “Yes.” “Well, she knew that there were very few relatives, and she did wonder then who would inherit the estates if he should die childless. But it seems like some romantic tale to me. I can scarcely realize it even yet.” “How does English society compare with American, in your opinion?” Lord Carrol asked, glancing over the brilliant throng around them. “I am sure, my lord, I should not presume to judge upon so short an experience,” Josephine answered, modestly, yet her glance told him that she admired one Englishman excessively.