fered, he felt, wrongs that were intolerable at his hands, and his
heart sank within him at this new meeting. He seemed to himself base
beyond all expression, and no words could be found with which he might
excuse himself.

Brooke saw Dolores, and his only thought was that she had suspected him,
had watched him, had tracked him, and had now come to overwhelm him with
dishonor; and he felt that he must be dumb before her.

Ashby saw Katie, and thought that she had surely come in pursuit of him;
that perhaps his suspicions had been unfounded; that she loved him; that
she had only been trifling with Harry, and had come to tear him from
Dolores.

Talbot saw Harry with guilty terror. She had fled from him, and
intentionally. He had pursued; he had come to claim her hand--her promised
hand!

Dolores saw Brooke with the same feelings. She knew him as the chivalrous
American who had saved her life, and that of her mother, in their direst
need; who had won her heart and the promise of her hand. She had broken
her word--she had fled. What now? With what eyes could she look at him?
With what words could she speak to him?

Katie's face had lightened up with joy at the sight of "His Majesty," but
the moment afterward it clouded over with fear and apprehension at the
sight of Ashby. "'Tis conscience doth make cowards of us all," and
conscience told her that she had treated Ashby very, very badly, and that
he had followed her to make her keep her plighted word. And so she only
clung to Harry more closely than ever.

And so, in fact, did the other couples. They all clung to one another more
closely than ever. There was a moment of embarrassment--intense, awful,
tremendous.

The deep silence was broken by the voice of "His Majesty."

"Hersilf!" he cried, with his eyes fixed on Katie--"hersilf! begorra, it's
hersilf! Shure an' it is! an' oh, but it's mesilf that's the lucky man
this day! An' shure, an' may I dhrop dead if I iver saw sich a mayting as
this! Shure, ye've forgotten all about my offer av the crown av Spain, an'
the sceptre, an' the throne. Begorra, ye've given up all that same for
that bit av a boy that's a howldin' av ye. An' shure, we're all together
again, so we are. Here's welcome to yez all--Messrs. Rivers, an' Ashby,
an' the ladies, one an' all! Niver fear, I'll take good care av yez this
toime! Only, what's become av Lord Russell? Begorra, it's mesilf that 'ud
loike to have another look at that same!"

Talk