Lord Harry.

His first impulse was to throw the letter into the fire, unread. There
could be little doubt, after the time that had passed, of the
information that it would contain. Could he endure to be told of the
marriage of Iris, by the man who was her husband? Never! There was
something humiliating in the very idea of it. He arrived at that
conclusion--and what did he do in spite of it? He read the letter.

Lord Harry wrote with scrupulous politeness of expression. He regretted
that circumstances had prevented him from calling on Mr. Mountjoy,
before he left England. After the conversation that had taken place at
Mr. Vimpany's house, he felt it his duty to inform Mr. Mountjoy that he
had insured his life--and, he would add, for a sum of money amply, and
more than amply, sufficient to provide for his wife in the event of her
surviving him. Lady Harry desired her kind regards, and would write
immediately to her old and valued friend. In the meantime, he would
conclude by repeating the expression of his sense of obligation to Mr.
Mountjoy.

Hugh looked back at the first page of the letter, in search of the
writer's address. It was simply, "Paris." The intention to prevent any
further correspondence, or any personal communication, could hardly
have been more plainly implied. In another moment, the letter was in
the fire.

In two days more, Hugh heard from Iris.

She, too, wrote regretfully of the sudden departure from England;
adding, however, that it was her own doing. A slip of the tongue, on
Lord Harry's part, in the course of conversation, had led her to fear
that he was still in danger from political conspirators with whom he
had imprudently connected himself. She had accordingly persuaded him to
tell her the whole truth, and had thereupon insisted on an immediate
departure for the Continent. She and her husband were now living in
Paris; Lord Harry having friends in that city whose influence might
prove to be of great importance to his pecuniary prospects. Some
sentences followed, expressing the writer's grateful remembrance of all
that she had owed to Hugh in past days, and her earnest desire that
they might still hear of each other, from time to time, by
correspondence. She could not venture to anticipate the pleasure of
receiving a visit from him, under present circumstances. But, she hoped
that he would not object to write to her, addressing his letters, for
the present, to post-restante.

In a postsc