“I don’t mind giving it to you; I heard it from Spenser Churchill!”
“Then you may swear to its truth; that man never makes a mistake!” responded one of the young fellows. “Well, I’m awfully sorry. Lady—the lady is always very kind and pleasant to me, and I think her one of the loveliest creatures in the world. As for Lord Neville—well, if he can remain quiescent while this story is going about, and does nothing to contradict it or set it right—all I can say, he is a very different man from what I have always understood him to be. Where is he now? I hear he has come a regular cropper in money matters. I saw him a little while ago, and he looked awfully down on his luck.”
“Oh, he’s gone abroad, I believe,” replied the other.
Lord Cecil sat perfectly still for a minute, his brain surging, his heart beating with mingled fury and consternation; then, with his pipe still in his hand, he got up and knocked at the door of the adjoining room.
Some one opened it, and Lord Cecil, with a slight bow, stepped in and stood before the group of young men, who stared at his now grave, pale face inquiringly.
“I am sorry to disturb you, gentlemen,” he said; “but it is only right I should tell you that I am the occupant of the next room, and that I have heard every word you said.”
“There!” exclaimed the young fellow who had started the conversation, in a tone of vexation and reproach; “I told you so! I said the partition was like paper, and that some one might be on the other side, and you fellows wouldn’t believe me!”
“Yes; I have heard every word,” said Lord Neville, sternly; “and as I have the honor to be a friend of the lady of whom you were speaking, it is my duty to tell you that the man who whispers a word against the reputation of that lady is a liar!”
They sprang to their feet as a body, and stared at him with angry surprise; but Lord Cecil put up his hand to command silence.
“Hear me out, please. You may, not unnaturally, demand to know why I should take upon myself to champion this lady’s cause. I do so because I hope to have the honor of being that lady’s husband. My name is Cecil Neville; there is my card.” He did not toss it melodramatically, but courteously placed it on the table before them. “If any of you consider that he is affronted by what I have said, I shall be happy to afford him any satisfaction he may think necessary.”