uke,--
"Good God! my lord duke, what has happened? Had you not better send
for Millington or Garth?"
"She is better, she is better," said the Duke, rising; "she is coming
to herself again.--Good Heaven! my Lord of Sunbury, is it you? This
is an unexpected pleasure."
"I cannot say," replied Lord Sunbury, "that it is an unexpected
pleasure to me, my lord; for though I would rather see your grace in
any other place, and heard this morning at Hampton Court that the
order for your liberation was signed, yet I heard just now that you
were still in the Tower; and, to say the truth, I expected to find my
young friend Wilton with you. Let us attend to the lady, however," he
added, seeing that his allusion to Wilton made the Duke turn a little
red, and divining, perhaps, that Lady Laura's illness was in some way
connected with the absence of his young friend, "she is growing
better."
And kindly kneeling down beside her, he took her hand in his, saying
in a tender and paternal tone, "I hope you are better, my dear young
lady. Nay, nay," he added, in a lower voice, "be comforted; all will
go well, depend upon it:--you are better now; you are better, I see."
And then perceiving that only having seen him once before, Lady Laura
did not recollect him, he added his own name, saying, "Lord Sunbury,
my dear, the father, by love and by adoption, of a dear friend of
yours."
The allusion to Wilton immediately produced its effect upon Lady
Laura, and she burst into tears; but seeing Lord Sunbury about to
rise, she clung to his hand, saying, "Do not leave me--do not leave
me. I shall be better in a minute. I will send him a message by
you."
"I will not, indeed, leave you," replied Lord Sunbury; "but I think
we do not need all these people present just now. Your father and I
and your woman will be enough."
According to his suggestion, the room was cleared, the windows were
all thrown open, and in about half an hour Lady Laura had
sufficiently recovered herself to sit up and speak with ease. Lord
Sunbury had avoided returning to the subject of Wilton, till he
fancied that she could bear it, knowing that it might be more painful
to her, even to hear him conversing with her father upon such a
topic, than to take part in the discussion herself. At length,
however, he said,--
"Now this fair lady is tolerably well again, let me ask your grace
where I can find my young friend, Wilton Brown. I was told at his
lodgings that he had come on with all speed to the Tower, merely
gett