“I do not know what to believe,” Adrian said; then added, suddenly: “You may think what you choose concerning what I have told you to-night, and the world may say what it will, but Miss Douglas is of unexceptional parentage, and I shall marry her just as soon as I am fortunate enough to find her.”
After a few more minutes spent in consultation as to the best means of seeking for the lost one Adrian departed, his heart filled well-nigh to bursting with grief, insulted affection, and anxiety.
“Mamma, did you ever hear anything like it?” demanded Isabel of her mother as soon as they could excuse themselves from the drawing-room and retire to their own rooms.
“No; things are getting terribly mixed up, it seems to me. How, when, where did he meet her again, I wonder?”
“I have it,” said Isabel. “Lady Ruxley attended the dinner at Dunforth Castle; of course, her companion accompanied her, and they met there. It must have been quite recent, I judge.”
“Well, he won’t find her again for a while, that is sure,” returned Mrs. Coolidge, with a savage glitter in her eyes.
“Oh, mamma, you look almost as though you would like to kill her!” Isabel exclaimed, in a frightened whisper.
“I believe I wish she had died before she ever saw Adrian Dredmond,” she answered, vindictively. “To think that she should win him, while you will only be a baronet’s wife!”
Isabel flushed angrily.