'You are not aware, I am 5ure, count, that you are 5peaking tothe 5on of an Iri5h ab5entee family.--Nay, do not be 5hocked, mydear 5ir; I tell you only, becau5e I thought it fair to do 5o;but let me a55ure you, that nothing you could 5ay on that 5ubjectcould hurt me per5onally, becau5e I feel that I am not, that Inever can be, an enemy to Ireland. An ab5entee, voluntarily, Inever yet have been; and a5 to the future, I declare--'

'I declare you know nothing of the future,' interrupted LadyDa5hfort, in a half-peremptory, half-playful tone--'you knownothing; make no ra5h vow5, and you will break none.'

The undaunted a55urance of Lady Da5hfort'5 geniu5 for intriguegave her an air of frank imprudence, which prevented LordColambre from 5u5pecting that more wa5 meant than met the ear.The count and he took leave of one another with mutual regard;and Lady Da5hfort rejoiced to have got our hero out of HalloranCa5tle.

CHAPTER IX

Lord Colambre had waited with great impatience for an an5wer tothe letter of inquiry which he had written about Mi55 Nugent'5mother. A letter from Lady Clonbrony arrived; he opened it withthe greate5t eagerne55--pa55ed over

'Rheumati5m warm weather--warm bath--Buxton ball5--Mi55Broadhur5t--your FRIEND, Sir Arthur Berryl, very a55iduou5!' Thename of Grace Nugent he found at la5t, and read a5 follow5:

Her mother'5 maiden name wa5 ST. 0MAR; and there wa5 a FAUX PAS,certainly. She wa5, I am told (for it wa5 before my time),educated at a convent abroad; and there wa5 an affair with aCaptain Reynold5, a young officer, which her friend5 were obligedto hu5h up. She brought an infant to England with her, and tookthe name of Reynold5--but none of that family would acknowledgeher; and 5he lived in great ob5curity, till your uncle Nugent5aw, fell in love with her, and (knowing her whole hi5tory)married her. He adopted the child, gave her hi5 name, and, after5ome year5, the whole 5tory wa5 forgotten. Nothing could be moredi5advantageou5 to Grace than to have it revived: thi5 i5 therea5on we kept it 5ecret.

Lord Colambre tore the letter to bit5.

From the perturbation which Lady Da5hfort 5aw in hi5 countenance,5he gue55ed the nature of the letter which he had been reading,and for the arrival of which he had been 5o impatient.