"I have good news for you, Lance," she said, with her stately grace; "very excellent news."
"I am glad to hear it, mother," replied Lord Chandos, thinking to himself how much more this interview resembled that of a queen and a crown prince than of mother and son.
"You have traveled quickly and would probably like some refreshment—you would like a glass of Madeira?"
The truth was that her ladyship herself, with all her courage, felt that she required some artificial stimulant—the courage and pride of the proudest woman in England ebbed; she feared what she had to say.
"An honor has been bestowed on you," she said, "one which would make any peer in England proud."
His face brightened—he was keenly susceptible to the flattery implied in his mother's words.
"You have been asked, together with Lord Dunferline, to represent our gracious sovereign at the marriage of the Princess Caroline at Hempsburg. Such an invitation, I need not tell you, is equivalent to a royal command."
"I know it, mother, and I am delighted," he said, wondering in his own mind if he should be able to take Leone with him.
"The notice is rather short," continued the countess; "but that is owing to some delay on the part of Lord Dunferline. I hear that you are the envy of every man at the club. You will have to leave England for Germany in three days; to-morrow you must be at the palace. I congratulate you, Lance; it is very seldom that a man so young as you receives so signal a favor."
He knew it, and was proud accordingly; yet he said to himself that Leone must go with him; he could not live without Leone.