"Leoline!" he faintly gasped. "Just atop a moment, Ormiston, and say
that again--will you?"
"No," said Ormiston, hurrying unconcernedly on; "I shall do no such
thing, for there is no time to lose, and if there were I have no fancy
for standing in this dismal road. Come on, man, and I'll tell you as we
go."
Thus abjured, and seeing there was no help for it, Sir Norman, in a
dazed and bewildered state, complied; and Ormiston promptly and briskly
relaxed into business.
"You see, my dear fellow, to begin at the beginning, after you left, I
stood at ease at La Masque's door, awaiting that lady's return, and
was presently rewarded by seeing her come up with an old woman called
Prudence. Do you recollect the woman who rushed screaming out of the
home of the dead bride?"
"Yes, yes!"
"Well, that was Prudence. 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."
"Did you hear the name of the person she was to have married?" asked Sir
Norman, with kindling eyes.
"I think not; they called him the count, if my memory serves me, and
Prudence intimated that he knew nothing of the melancholy fate of
Mistress Leoline. Moat likely it was the person in the cloak and
slouched hat we caw talking to the watchman."
Sir Norman said nothing, but he thought a good deal, and the burden of
his thoughts was an ardent and heartfelt wish that the Court L'Estrange
was once more under the swords of the three robbers, and waiting for him
to ride to the rescue--that was all!
"La Masque urged Prudence to go back," continued Ormiston; "but Prudence
respectfully declined, and went her way bemoaning the fate of her
darling. When she was gone, I stepped up to Madame Masque, and that
lady's first words of greeting were an earnest hope that I had been
edified and improved by what I had overheard."