"Nay, dearest Mrs. Bloomfield, this is not necessarily true; or, if true, need it be so openly said?"
"Se non e vero, e ben trovato."
Chapter XVIII.
"Thine for a space are they--
Yet shalt thou yield thy treasures up at last;
Thy gates shall yet give way,
Thy bolts shall fall, inexorable Past."
BRYANT
Captain Ducie had retired for the night, and was sitting reading, when a low tap at the door roused him from a brown study. He gave the necessary permission, and the door opened.
"I hope, Ducie, you have not forgotten the secretary I left among your effects," said Paul entering the room, "and concerning which I wrote you when you were still at Quebec."
Captain Ducie pointed to the case, which was standing among his other luggage, on the floor of the room.
"Thank you for this care," said Paul, taking the secretary under his arm, and retiring towards the door; "it contains papers of much importance to myself, and some that I have reason to think are of importance to others."
"Stop, Powis--a word before, you quit me. Is Templemore de trop?"