“No more than that I am his wife, Captain!” came the quick reply, and I could have hugged Nanette.
Here was a sudden and joyful change in my plans. There need be no Virginia now. Yet there was much to learn, and, it seemed, also, to find Lucille.
The tavern keeper was staring at us curiously, so I motioned Nanette to come into the room I had, and, closing the door, I bade her tell me all she knew. First I repeated, briefly, how I had met Sir George; though I said nothing of the Royal warrant.
Then Nanette related how she had long been in the service of the de Guilfort family. Some years before, while in Paris, Sir George Keith had met Lucille, fallen in love with her, and they were engaged to wed. Then came the disclosure of how lightly Sir George held the honor of his promised wife. He had an affair with a notorious woman, and it was the talk of the court, in the circle of which the de Guilforts moved. Stung and ashamed at the effront, Lucille had quarreled with my lord, and, with bitter words, the troth was broken. Then, smarting under the tongue of gossip, M. de Guilfort, with his daughter and niece, had set sail for the new land, and Nanette accompanied[accompanied] them.
“Then Lucille is not his wife?” I asked again, hardly able to believe the good news.
“Never! Never! Never!” cried Nanette, with such earnestness that she could scarce cease her “nevers.”
“But does she not love him?” I inquired, tortured by a new doubt.
“Voila!” burst out Nanette, with a shrug of her shoulders. “You must know if she loves you, Captain, and that should be an answer enough for any man.”
“It is,” I said, and I was as happy as I had been sad.
“But where is Mistress de Guilfort, now?” asked Nanette.