“Thank you,” the young lord said, but he looked very grave, for he did not feel as if it would be a very easy matter to find Star. He knew that underneath her usual gentleness and sweetness there lay a strength of purpose and determination which would lead her to do thoroughly whatever she undertook, and if she had gone away to hide from him it would take both patience and sagacity to find her.
However, he resolved to devote all his time before the day set for his return should arrive in searching for her; and acting at once upon this decision, he sought Mrs. Richards and Josephine, telling them that, much as he regretted doing so, he should be obliged to cut his visit short, as business of importance called him unexpectedly away.
Josephine was bitterly disappointed and chagrined, for she was as yet in total ignorance as to the cause of his departure, and Mrs. Richards for the moment was rendered speechless from indignation. She had not once thought that he would go away before the expiration of his week.
“We shall see you again, I trust, before you leave America,” Josephine said, with her sweetest smile, as he took her hand at parting.
“Perhaps so; I cannot tell,” he answered, absently.
“We return to Brooklyn next week,” Mrs. Richards now managed to say. “If you are in New York, you surely will find time to run over and call upon us now and then.”
“Thank you. I may be able to do so,” he replied, courteously; and then, with a somewhat formal bow, he went away to seek for his lost love.
“What under the sun is the matter with Lord Carrol this morning, mamma? He does not appear like himself at all; and what has possessed him to go away so soon?” Josephine cried, nearly ready to weep as the door closed upon the man she loved, and she was left alone with her mother.
Mrs. Richards then related what she had overheard the previous evening, and told her also of her subsequent interview with Star and Mr. Rosevelt, and the news that had come to them that morning of their flight.
Josephine listened to her in dumb amazement, hardly able to comprehend the romantic story.