husband?' _I_ overheard a hundred such vulgar
questions; and provincial people whisper so loud."

"Ah, that is a very probable solution of the mystery; and for my part,
I am almost as much puzzled as any one else can be to know who Lady
Vargrave was!"

"Did not your uncle tell you?"

"He told me that she was of no very elevated birth and station,--nothing
more; and she herself, with her quiet, say-nothing manner, slips through
all my careless questionings like an eel. She is still a beautiful
creature, more regularly handsome than even Evelyn; and old Templeton
had a very sweet tooth at the back of his head, though he never opened
his mouth wide enough to show it."

"She must ever at least have been blameless, to judge by an air which,
even now, is more like that of a child than a matron."

"Yes; she has not much of the widow about her, poor soul! But her
education, except in music, has not been very carefully attended to;
and she knows about as much of the world as the Bishop of Autun (better
known as Prince Talleyrand) knows of the Bible. If she were not so
simple, she would be silly; but silliness is never simple,--always
cunning; however, there is some cunning in her keeping her past
Cameronian Chronicles so close. Perhaps I may know more about her in a
short time, for I intend going to C-----, where my uncle once lived,
in order to see if I can revive under the rose--since peers are only
contraband electioneerers--his old parliamentary influence in that city:
and they may tell me more there than I now know."

"Did the late lord marry at C-----?"

"No; in Devonshire. I do not even know if Mrs. Cameron ever was at
C-----."

"You must be curious to know who the father of your intended wife was?"

"Her father! No; I have no curiosity in that quarter. And, to tell you
the truth, I am much too busy about the Present to be raking into
that heap of rubbish we call the Past. I fancy that both your good
grandmother and that comely old curate of Brook-Green know everything
about Lady Vargrave; and, as they esteem her so much, I take it for
granted she is _sans tache_."

"How could I be so stupid! _A propos_ of the curate, I forgot to tell
you that he is here. He arrived about two hours ago, and has been
closeted with Evelyn ever since!"

"The deuce! What brought the old man hither?"

"That I know not. Papa received a letter from him yesterday morning, to
say that he would be here to-day. Perhaps Lady Vargrave t