Ormiston looked at his excited face with a glance full of quiet malice.
“No, my lord, not quits; Sir Norman Kingsley was with her!”
“Oh!” said the earl, smiling back with a look of chagrin. “Then he will probably find out her name before he comes away. I wonder you could give her up so easily to him, after all your trouble!”
“Smitten, my lord?” inquired Ormiston, maliciously.
“Hopelessly!” replied the earl, with a deep sigh. “She was a perfect little beauty; and if I can find her, I warn Sir Norman Kingsley to take care! I have already sent Hubert out in search of her; and, by the way,” said the earl, with a sudden increase of animation, “what a wonderful resemblance she bears to Hubert—I could almost swear they were one and the same!”
“The likeness is marvelous; but I should hate to take such an oath. I confess I am somewhat curious myself; but I stand no chance of having it gratified before to-morrow, I suppose.”
“How those fires blaze! It is much brighter than at noon-day. Show me the house in which Leoline lies?”.
Ormiston easily pointed it out, and showed the earl the light still burning in her window.
“It was in that room we found her first, dead of the plague!”
“Dead of the what?” cried the earl, aghast.