“About twenty-one or two, Annie thought he might be. He has been traveling in this country for a year, just to see a little of the world before settling upon his own estate. It is whispered,” the eager damsel went on, with flushing cheeks and sparkling eyes, “that he has heard of the beauty of American ladies, and is on the lookout for a handsome wife;” and Josephine tossed her head with a conscious smile, as her eyes wandered to the reflection of her own fine face and figure in an opposite mirror. “That is somewhat doubtful, I think, since the English nobility are very jealous regarding marriages outside the pale of their own rank. However, such things are happening every year now, and this young lord may be captivated by some of our American beauties, after all;” and Mrs. Richards bestowed a glance of pride upon her handsome daughter, and thought how delightful it would be to figure as mother-in-law to an English lord, and to be able to say, “my daughter, Lady So-and-So.” That evening Josephine Richards, the most brilliant girl in the ball-room of the Howard House—the hotel where they were stopping—was made supremely happy by receiving an introduction to Lord Carrol, of Carrolton, Derbyshire, England. One look into the frank, handsome eyes of the manly stranger, one touch of his hand, one tone of his rich, musical voice as it vibrated in her ears, and she knew that she had met the man whom she should love with the one great passion of her life. He was tall, with a well-developed form, straight, strong, and lithe; a splendidly shaped head, with masses of waving brown hair; clear, truthful, brown eyes, full of fire and intelligence; a full, rather low brow, a straight nose, and a smiling but decided mouth, with brilliant, even teeth. It was not much wonder that the “girls were wild” over such a man as this, and he a lord, with a rent-roll of sixty thousand a year. Josephine herself, at nineteen, was a magnificent-looking girl, at least when she was good-natured and animated. She was a clear, brilliant brunette, with eyes as black as night, a wealth of midnight hair, a fine form, and clearly cut, rather delicate features; and all this, added to a faultless taste in matters of dress, went far toward making her the chief attraction wherever she went. My Lord of Carrolton seemed no less pleased with her than she with him, and spent a goodly portion of the evening by her side after making her acquaintance, much to the chagrin and indignation of other anxious, blooming maidens and fond, managing mammas. “Have you ever visited Europe?” the young peer asked his companion, as he led her to a seat at the conclusion of a quadrille. “Never, my lord, but I think we shall persuade papa to take us upon a European trip by another year. Mamma has some distant relatives, I believe, somewhere in England,” Josephine replied.