"Mine! do not ask me to look at it."
She laughed low but merrily.
"This has been a delightful evening to me; I have to thank you for a peep into a new world, Miss Vernon."
"Oh, you like it because it is new; you would soon tire of our quiet world, and I do not see why I am to be thanked for it, grandpapa"—
"What was it brought me to A——? solely my wish to see and apologise to you."
"Captain Egerton, you cannot suppose I will credit such a conte; besides, it is not necessary; you see how welcome an old Dungar friend is; why seek to render assurance doubly sure, by trying to persuade me you came here in search of a person to whose address neither you nor any one had the slightest clue?"
"Doubt my word if you will, Miss Vernon, I can only say that not many hours after you left the Angel Hotel, I there discovered traces, certainly faint enough, which were the cause of my visit here."
At the name of "The Angel," Miss Vernon started, colored slightly, and then with a smile said,
"Well, I can say nothing more. What a pity such energies as yours should be lost in H.M. Light Dragoons."