“If that court pronounce her first, infantile marriage to have been, as I was led to believe, illegal, it follows that the second one was legal, and that Estelle is my lawful wife. If, on the contrary, they adjudge it to have been valid—still by the death of L’Orient, Estelle is free—I should woo and wed her. That is all.” “Except that in the latter case, Estelle would be freed from the sign of blame!” “She is free from that in either case! She was innocent of the intention of wrong doing!” “Assuredly, but the world judges _acts_, not intentions.” Lord Montressor made a movement of impatience, and then said— “Since L’Orient, at whose suit the action was brought before the Arches Court is dead—at whose instance is that suit now carried forward?” “At her father’s.” “At her father’s!” “At Sir Parke Morelle’s.” “He has returned to England?” “And to his right mind, which is better still.” “You amaze me! Is he reconciled to his unhappy young daughter, then?” inquired Lord Montressor, in astonishment. “Easy—easy—do not be in a hurry. You said that Estelle was in Maryland, North America. Now, Sir Parke has but just returned from Italy, and is spending his Christmas at Hyde Hall, Devonshire. How is it possible they should be now reconciled?” “By an epistolary correspondence I should think it might have been done.” “But it has not been done! Sir Parke does not even know where she is, or any thing of her movements since the trial, except that which we learned from yourself, namely, that she embarked for America. He is exceeding anxious for a meeting and a reconciliation with her. He is too proud and fastidious to advertise even with caution and disguise; but he has dispatched a confidential agent to America to seek her out.” “‘A needle in a haystack!’ Does he expect so to find her on that vast continent?” exclaimed Lord Montressor, impatiently, for he remembered that but for Sir Parke’s unnatural severity and too late repentance, the poor, “stricken deer” might now be safe in the covert of her father’s house. “Yes! he hopes his agent will find her even on that ‘vast continent!’ Sir Parke, like most untraveled English country gentlemen, looks upon the ‘vast continent’ of America as a ‘vast’ wilderness, with only a few coast towns such as Boston, New York, and the like, whose population might be soon sifted by an intelligent ‘detective.’ That now, in spite of geography and newspapers, is the cherished idea of Sir Parke.” “Pshaw!” Lord Dazzleright laughed. Lord Montressor arose, and looked steadily into the eyes of the advocate. “What do you suppose, Dazzleright, to be the cause of Sir Parke Morelle’s change of feelings and purposes toward his daughter?” “We might readily suppose Dame Nature to be the fundamental cause. Surely, his present relenting is more natural than his former severity toward her.” “Sir Parke is not a man to be governed by his natural affections.”