“Yes; an Englishman of noble birth; and an American. They both loved her, and she loved the Englishman. They must have both asked her hand on the same day, and she must have answered both letters in the same hour; and the letter she intended for the man she loved, went to the man she did not love. Presumably, the man she loved got the refusal she intended for the other, for he never sought her society again; and Mr. Van Ariens told me she nearly died in consequence. I know not as to this part of the story; when I saw her in Philadelphia, she had no more of fragility than gave delicacy to all her charms.”
“And what became of the two lovers, Mary?”
“The Englishman went back to England; and the American found another girl more kind to him.”
“I wonder what made Mr. Van Ariens tell you this story?”
“He talked much of his sister, and this young lady was her chief friend and confidante.”
“When did it happen?”
“A few days after his sister’s marriage.”
“Then the Marquise could not know of it; and so she could not have told her brother. However in the world could he have found out the mistake? Do you think the girl herself found it out?”
“That is inconceivable,” answered Mary. “She would have written to her lover and explained the affair.”
“Certainly. It is a very singular incident. I want to think it over—how—did—Mr. Van Ariens—find—it—out, I wonder!”