“Five years after our arrival we heard that Lord Dunforth had married Helen Capel’s cousin, Lady Leonie Herford, and just three months later I learned that but for Miss Capel’s treachery I might have been his wife.”
“Oh, auntie! only just three months after his marriage!” exclaimed Brownie, in deep distress.
“Yes, dear, those three months were all that stood between me and my future happiness; but what matters it if it had been but a day, or an hour even, if it were that much too late?
“I found out that Miss Capel never gave that note of mine to Lord Dunforth, but told him instead that I utterly refused to see him then and ever after.
“When he met me driving afterward, and I did not even recognize him, but sat so cold and indifferent, he was confirmed in the truth of her statement. I was told that it was a terrible blow to him, for he loved me, and would have made me his wife notwithstanding all that had passed. He left England almost immediately after we sailed for America, and did not return until a year before his marriage.”
“Who told you all this, auntie?”
“A friend of his lordship told my brother, who met him while he was traveling in this country. He did not know the truth of the matter regarding the note I sent, until brother told him, and I do not suppose Lord Dunforth knows to this day of Helen Capel’s treachery, or that she was the cause of our separation.
“Now, darling,” concluded Miss Mehetabel, with a little tremulous smile which was sadder than tears, “you know the reason why I am an old maid.”
“Did Miss Capel ever marry?” Brownie asked.
“Yes, the year following Lord Dunforth’s marriage; but I have forgotten the name of her husband.”