e corner waiting. At the last moment he said, in somewhat
agitated tones, and with what appeared to be a renewal of the respect
which had been imperceptibly dropped since they crossed the Channel, 'I
was not aware of your engagement to Mr. Neigh. I fear I have been acting
mistakenly on that account.'

'There is no engagement as yet,' said she.

Lord Mountclere brightened like a child. 'Then may I have a few words in
private--'

'Not now--not to-day,' said Ethelberta, with a certain irritation at she
knew not what. 'Believe me, Lord Mountclere, you are mistaken in many
things. I mean, you think more of me than you ought. A time will come
when you will despise me for this day's work, and it is madness in you to
go further.'

Lord Mountclere, knowing what he did know, may have imagined what she
referred to; but Ethelberta was without the least proof that he had the
key to her humour. 'Well, well, I'll be responsible for the madness,' he
said. 'I know you to be--a famous woman, at all events; and that's
enough. I would say more, but I cannot here. May I call upon you?'

'Not now.'

'When shall I?'

'If you must, let it be a month hence at my house in town,' she said
indifferently, the Hamlet mood being still upon her. 'Yes, call upon us
then, and I will tell you everything that may remain to be told, if you
should be inclined to listen. A rumour is afloat which will undeceive
you in much, and depress me to death. And now I will walk back: pray
excuse me.' She entered the street, and joined Cornelia.

Lord Mountclere paced irregularly along, turned the corner, and went
towards his inn, nearing which his tread grew lighter, till he scarcely
seemed to touch the ground. He became gleeful, and said to himself,
nervously palming his hip with his left hand, as if previous to plunging
it into hot water for some prize: 'Upon my life I've a good mind! Upon
my life I have!. . . . I must make a straightforward thing of it, and at
once; or he will have her. But he shall not, and I will--hee-hee!'

The fascinated man, screaming inwardly with the excitement, glee, and
agony of his position, entered the hotel, wrote a hasty note to
Ethelberta and despatched it by hand, looked to his dress and appearance,
ordered a carriage, and in a quarter of an hour was being driven towards
the Hotel Beau Sejour, whither his note had preceded him.

35. THE HOTEL (continued), AND THE QUAY IN FRONT

Ethelberta, having