“Three or four weeks, perhaps. I find it very pleasant here,” he said; and again that thrill leaped through her veins. “I shall then go to New York,” he added, “where I shall make my headquarters until I return to England.”
“Perhaps we can help to make your stay in New York pleasant,” Josephine said, with her most brilliant smile. “Mamma and I are to remain here until the first of October, when we shall go home, and can, perhaps, help to show you more of our great city than you would otherwise see.”
“Thanks; I shall be very happy to avail myself of your kindness. But there is the signal for supper; may I take you in?”
It is needless to say that the fascinated girl accepted his invitation, and spent the hour feasting more upon the young lord’s handsome looks and charming conversation than upon the choice viands which he placed before her.
It was evident that he also experienced pleasure in her society, for, when he took her to Mrs. Richards—as she made a signal that she wished to retire from the company—and was introduced to her, and then accompanied them both to the foot of the staircase leading to their apartments, he asked and obtained permission to call upon them on the morrow.
CHAPTER XII.
THE CAMEO RING.
A fortnight passed, and the Brooklyn beauty, as Miss Richards was designated, together with the attention she was receiving from the handsome English lord, formed the principal theme of conversation at the fashionable watering-place.
Mrs. Richards was in her element, and conducted herself remarkably well.
His lordship considered her a woman of very fine appearance and of wonderful tact; and it was noticeable that when he was in her presence he paid her full as much homage as he did her daughter; but people of course said this was all for a particular purpose.
“By the way,” she said to him, one day, when they were comparing the merits of their respective countries, “I am more than half English myself. The late Lady Thornton, of Hallowell Park, Devonshire, was an aunt of mine—at least, my mother was her half-sister—and I have other distant relatives living in the same county.”