“To marry Lady Angeline?” asked Jack. “I really could not do that. To tell you the truth, father, since I left the Academy I have had a most surprising adventure. I rescued a beautiful young girl from drowning and have fallen, in love with her.”
“Who is she?” asked the Earl.
“She is an orphan,” said Jack. “She is the ward of Mr. Thomas Glynne, of Buckholme, in Berkshire.”
“I never heard of him. What is he?”
“He is the senior member of the firm of Walmonth and Company in London. They are in the iron and steel business, I believe. They sell a good deal to the Admiralty.”
“Has she money in her own right?”
Jack was honest; in fact, too honest for his own good. It is not always advisable to tell all the truth upon the slightest provocation.
“Her guardian says she is poor—in fact, entirely dependent upon his bounty.”
“Then,” said the Earl, “I think the sooner you go to Paris the better. After you return with the Countess and her daughter, we are all going to Scotland. Carolus will be back by that time, and I think the northern air will do him good.”
“But you say nothing about the young lady with whom I am in love,” persisted Jack.