"
"But why?" asked Quincy, not knowing what else to say.
"That's the deuce of it," replied Lord Algernon; "I sha'n't know till I
find her and ask her. I met her at Nice, in France; she was with her
mother, a Mdme. Archimbault; the daughter's name was Celeste--Celeste
Archimbault. They said they were not French, they were French Canadians;
came from America, you know. I was traveling as plain Algernon Hastings,
and I don't think she ever suspected I was the son of an earl. I
proposed one evening. She said she must speak to her mother, and if I
would come the next evening about seven o'clock, she would give me her
answer, and I thought by the look in her eye that she herself was
willing to say 'Yes' then. But when I called the next evening they had
both gone, no one knew where."
"You are sure she was not an adventuress?" inquired Quincy. "Excuse the
question, my lord, but you really knew nothing about her?"
"I knew that I loved her," said Lord Algernon, bluntly, "and I would
give half of my fortune to find her. I know she was a true, pure,
beautiful girl, and her mother was as honest an old lady as you could
find in the world.
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