“Where to, my lord—­to Beechgrove?”

“No,” replied Lord Arleigh—­“to the railway station.  I want to catch the night-mail for London.”

Lord Arleigh was just in time for the train.  The footman caught a glimpse of his master’s face as the train went off—­it was white and rigid.

“Of all the weddings in this world, well, this is the queerest!” he exclaimed to himself.

When he reached Beechgrove, he told his fellow-servants what had happened, and many were the comments offered about the marriage that was yet no marriage—­the wedding that was no wedding—­the husband and wife who were so many miles apart.  What could it mean?

Chapter XXIX.

Three days after Lord Arleigh’s most inauspicious marriage.  The Duchess of Hazlewood sat in her drawing-room alone.  Those three days had changed her terribly; her face had lost its bloom, the light had died from her dark eyes, there were great lines of pain round her lips.  She sat with her hands folded listlessly, her eyes, full of dreamy sorrow, fixed on the moving foliage of the woods.  Presently Lady Peters entered with an open newspaper in her hand.

“Philippa, my dear,” she said, “I am very uncomfortable.  Should you think this paragraph refers to Lord Arleigh?  It seems to do so—­yet I cannot believe it.”

The deadly pallor that was always the sign of great emotion with the duchess spread now even to her lips.

“What does it say?” she asked.

Lady Peters held the paper out to her; but her hands trembled so that she could not take it.

“I cannot read it,” she said, wearily.  “Read it to me.”

And then Lady Peters read: 

“Scandal in High Life.—­Some strange revelations are shortly expected in aristocratic circles.  A few days since a noble lord, bearing one of the most ancient titles in England, was married.  The marriage took place under circumstances of great mystery; and the mystery has been increased by the separation of bride and bridegroom on their wedding-day.  What has led to a separation is at present a secret, but it is expected that in a few days all particulars will be known.  At present the affair is causing a great sensation.”

A fashionable paper which indulged largely in personalities, also had a telling article on Lord Arleigh’s marriage.  No names were mentioned, but the references were unmistakable.  A private marriage, followed by a separation on the same day, was considered a fair mark for scandal.  This also Lady Peters read, and the duchess listened with white, trembling lips.

“It must refer to Lord Arleigh,” said Lady Peters.

“It cannot,” was the rejoinder.  “He was far too deeply in love with his fair-faced bride to leave her.”

“I never did quite approve of that marriage,” observed Lady Peters.

“The scandal cannot be about him,” declared the duchess.  “We should have heard if there had been anything wrong.”