It was not yet two weeks since his father had been buried, and his mother and sister were very sad and lonely. They would be loath to have him leave them so soon. Besides, as the new lord, there were matters to be seen to that could scarcely admit of delay. He remembered, too, that he had guests for whom he had planned a tour to London and Paris. It would not look well to desert them now. Business and hospitable duties would detain him here at least two weeks longer before he could return to America. In the meantime, Geraldine was safe with her mother. Standish, having received such a rebuff from Mrs. Fitzgerald would naturally relinquish his pursuit as hopeless. Indeed, the detective's news that the actor was engaged in a flirtation with the governess had seemed to be proof that he had given over his persecution of Geraldine. He was off with the old love and on with the new. So our hero, believing that everything was working together for his happiness, permitted himself to indulge in a delightful conviction of security--a very mistaken one, as the sequel will show. Smiling fondly on his anxious mother, he said: "Mother, I have a very romantic plan for winning my pretty betrothed from her fireman lover, and I will explain it to you soon. But you must not reply to Mrs. Fitzgerald's letter until I give you leave." CHAPTER XLVII. LADY AMY'S LOVERS. "Her ruby lips hiding teeth of pearl That dazzle me when she speaks, Her nut-brown hair in riotous curl, Her laugh, which sets all my senses awhirl, And the damask of her cheeks; Her Venus form, like a flower arrayed, In the garb of the blushing May, All bid me rejoice, and undismayed, Swear my heart shall ever lie true to this maid." Lady Putnam was delighted to find that her son was not averse to the union with his fair American cousin. Being an American herself, she had a fondness for her old home and her old friends, especially her kinswoman, Mrs. Fitzgerald. So she heard with delight her son's avowal that he would cut out the humble fireman in the regard of pretty Geraldine. She readily acceded to every condition he imposed on her in the furtherance of his plans. Their conference over, he went to seek his friends, whom he found playing a game of billiards with his pretty sister, Lady Amy. The young Americans were both charmed with the dainty beauty whose dark, curly tresses and laughing blue eyes were so like those of her brother that they showed their near kinship very plainly indeed. The young lady herself was delighted with her brother's friends. She could not have decided which one she liked better. When Leroy Hill, who was of a joyous, rollicking disposition, would entertain her with witty anecdotes of people he had seen, she would almost decide after all he was the more interesting of the two, and perhaps the handsomer, for his hazel eyes, with that twinkle of fun in them, were irresistibly fascinating.