hampton, whither came Felix and Beaumanoir to bid
them farewell. Bosko and Pauline were on the same ship. The taciturn
Serb had positively refused to leave his master, though Alec pointed out
that his fallen fortunes hardly warranted him in retaining a valet,
while Pauline, whom recent circumstances had thrown a good deal in
Bosko's company, declared that Paris no longer had any attractions for
her. Without consulting any one the two got married, and astounded Mrs.
Talbot one fine morning by announcing the fact.

At the last moment Joan almost persuaded Felix to go with her and her
husband; but he tore himself away.

"I peeped into the Grande Galerie the other morning," he said, with a
real sob in his voice, "and my poor Madonna looked so lonely! There was
no one with her; just a few painted angels and a couple of gaping
tourists. I must go back. Some day you will come to the Louvre, and you
will find me there, _le pauvre_ Bourdon, still singing and painting."

He began to hum furiously. When the gangway was lowered, and the great
ship sidled slowly but relentlessly away from the quay, he struck the
tremendous opening note of "Ernani."

Beaumanoir grabbed him by the collar. "Shut up, you idiot!" he said, not
smiling at all, for he loved Alec. "This is England. If you sing here, a
bobby will run you in. An', anyhow, blank it! why do you want to sing?
This isn't a smoking concert. It's more like a bally funeral!"

CHAPTER XV

THE ENVOY

In the autumn of the following year, Joan was seated one day in the
garden of her pretty suburban house at Denver. Not far away glittered a
silvery lake; beyond a densely wooded plain rose the blue amphitheater
of the Rocky Mountains; the distant clang of a gong told of street cars
and the busy life of one of America's most thriving and picturesque
cities.

She was somewhat more fragile than when she crossed the Pont Neuf on
that fine morning in May eighteen months ago; but she looked and felt
supremely happy, for Alec would soon be home from his office, where
already he was proving that the qualities which made him a good King
were now in a fair way toward establishing his position as a leading
citizen of his native State. By her side in a dainty cot reposed another
Alec, whose age might not yet be measured by many weeks, but whose size
and lustiness proclaimed him--in his own special circle, at any
rate--the most remarkable baby that ever "occurred" in Colorado.

Mrs.