"Whither go you, Dick, so soon?"
"Oh—anywhere, uncle," replied the other, wearily.
"How, sir?"
"Merely into the lawn to enjoy a post-prandial cigar," replied Richard, whose face wore an evident expression of annoyance, as he bowed and quitted the room.
"We have worried him, I fear," said Downie, with a self-satisfied smile.
"Don't use slang—it is bad in tone," replied his uncle; "but I cannot make your brother out—I hope he is not deceiving us all. Gad, if I thought so—if that Montreal story should prove true——" the peer paused, and his keen blue eyes flashed with anger at the vague thoughts that occurred to him.
"Oh, do not fear, my lord," said Downie Trevelyan, in a suave and soothing manner; "though sham diamonds often do duty for real ones."
"What do you mean?" asked his uncle, haughtily.
Downie only smiled, and bent over his glass of Burgundy again.
"Neb na gare y gwayn call restona," said Lord Lamorna, significantly; "I hate proverbs: but this is a good old Cornish one; 'he that heeds not gain, must expect loss.' When do you expect your oldest boy home from India?"