She and La Masque were talking so
earnestly they did not perceive me, and I - well, the fast is,
Kingsley, I stayed and listened. Not a very handsome thing,
perhaps, but I couldn't resist it. They were talking of some one
they called Leoline, and I, in a moment, knew that it was your
flame, and that neither of them knew any more of her whereabouts
than we did."
"And yet La Masque told me to come here in search of her,"
interrupted Sir Norman.
"Very true! That was odd - wasn't it? This Prudence, it
appears, was Leoline's nurse, and La Masque, too, seemed to have
a certain authority over her; and between them, I learned she was
to have been married this very night, and died - or, at least,
Prudence thought so - an hour or two before the time."
"Then she was not married?" cried Sir Norman, in an ecstasy of
delight.
"Not a bit of it; and what is more, didn't want to be; and
judging from the remarks of Prudence, I should say, of the two,
rather preferred the plague."
"Then why was she going to do it? You don't mean to say she was
forced?"
"Ah, but I do, though! Prudence owned it with the most charming
candor in the world.
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