Lord Ormsby was the first to speak.

"Mademoiselle Rivière, I believe," he said, bowing stiffly.

"Not so, my lord."

"No?" queried the earl.

"No!" she replied with a smile that annoyed him. As if it mattered to him who she was!

"Hum, some mistake. What name, then, may I ask——?"

"Viscountess Walden, my lord," she replied, with an air as stately as his own.

For a few moments the earl's surprise was too great for words. He sank upon a stone seat, and stared from one to the other.

"You hear what this woman says," he remarked in a harsh voice, turning to his son. "Is it true?"

"We are married—yes," returned Ivar, sullenly.