"My sisters are—what are they?" returned Sir Aubrey, indignantly; "all women are jealous of each other, I suppose."
"Aubrey," said Lady Dartelle, thinking it advisable to change the subject of conversation, "tell me whether you think either Veronica or Mildred has any chance of succeeding with Lord Chandon?"
"Not the least in the world, I should say," he replied, "I fancied when he came down that he would take a little consolation; now I know there is not the least chance."
"Why not?" inquired his mother.
"Because of his love for that brave girl, Miss Vaughan, he will never care for any one else while he lives."
Lady Dartelle's face fell considerably.
"I thought he fancied her dead," she observed.
"So he does; and so she must be; or, with all the search that has been made for her, she would have been found."
"But, Aubrey, if she were living, and he did find her, do you really think that he would marry her?"
"Indeed he would, mother. Were she alive he would marry her to-morrow, if he could."