"
"Do not make any apology to me, Mr. Constantine," returned she,
resuming her seat; "to be sure I was a little electrified by the
strange situation in which her vivid feelings have just made us
actors. But I shall not forego my claim on what she promised--your
acquaintance."
Thaddeus expressed his high sense of her condescension.
"I am not fond of fine terms," continued she, smiling; "but I know
that time and merit must purchase esteem. I can engage for the first,
as I am to remain in town at least three months; but for the last, I
fear I shall never have the opportunity of giving such an earnest of
my desert as you did last night of yours."
Footsteps sounded on the stairs. Thaddeus took up his hat, and
bowing, replied to her compliment with such a modest yet noble grace,
that she gazed after him with wonder and concern. Before he closed
the door he again bowed. Pleased with the transient look of a soft
pleasure which beamed from his eyes, through whose ingenuous mirrors
every thought of his soul might be read, she smiled a second adieu,
and as he disappeared, left the room by another passage.
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER XXVII.
SUCH THINGS WERE.
When the count appeared the succeeding day in Harley Street, Miss
Beaufort introduced him to Miss Dorothy Somerset as the gentleman who
had so gallantly preserved the lives of the children at the hazard of
his own.
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