But it did not matter, could not matter to her. He was back in England,
and dancing with the woman he loved--with the beautiful Lady Luce, whom
he had kissed on the terrace.
"And what do you think of his lordship?" Mrs. Hawksley asked, as if the
Right Honorable the Earl of Angleford were her special property. "I
wasn't far wrong, was I, Miss Lorton, when I said that he would be the
finest, handsomest man in the room?"
"No," said Nell, scarcely knowing what she answered. "That is----" She
put her hand to her lips. Even now she had not realized that her Drake
and the earl were one and the same man. "Oh, yes; he is handsome,
and----" she finished, as the old lady eyed her half indignantly. "But
I--I have made a mistake. I mean----What was Lord Angleford called
before he succeeded to the title?"
Mrs. Hawksley looked at her rather curiously.
"Why, Lord Selbie, of course," she said. "He ought, being one of the
Anglefords, to have been Lord Vernon, Drake Vernon; but his father was a
famous statesman, a governor of New South Wales and they made him a
viscount. Do you understand?" she asked, proud of her own knowledge of
these intricacies of the earl's names and titles.
Poor Nell looked confused. But it did not matter. She had learned
enough. Drake Vernon, who had made her love him, and had asked her to be
his wife, had been Lord Selbie. Why had he concealed his rank? Why had
he deceived her? He had seemed so honest and true, that she would have
trusted him with her life as freely as she had given him her love; and
all the while----Oh, why had he done it? Was it worth while to
masquerade as a mere nobody, to pretend that he was poor? Had he, even
from the very first, not intended to marry her? Was he only--amusing
himself?
Her face was dyed, with the shame of the thought, for a moment, then the
hot flush went and left her pale and wan.
Drake was the Earl of Angleford, and she--she the girl whose heart he
had broken, was in his house, looking on at him among his guests! The
thought was almost unendurable, and she slowly rose from her chair; then
she sat down again, for she was trembling and quite incapable of leaving
the gallery.
How long she sat in this state she did not know. The ball went on. She
saw Drake--no, the earl--would she never realize it?--dancing
frequently. Sometimes he joined the group of dowagers and chaperons on
the dais at the other end of the room, or leaned against the wall and
talked with the nondancing men; and wherever he went she saw that he was
received with that subtle empressement with which the children of Vanity
Fair indicate their respect for high rank and wealth.