A PUZZLING LETTER. 129 



contents — he read them a second time more carefully — turned 

 the letter over and over, and was commencing another perusal, 

 when Lord Mervyn asked impatiently, " What is it, Vancourt, 

 a refusal or acceptance 1 " 



"'Pon my life, I can scarcely tell," replied Vancourt. 

 "There," handing it across to him, "give me your opinion, for 

 I cannot make head or tail of it." 



Lord Mervyn was equally puzzled, and handed it in turn to 

 Vernon, saying, "There, you are a diplomatist, Vernon, and 

 may perhaps unravel the language of this mystical compound." 



Vernon, knowing the character of the writers, rightly 

 interpreted their meaning, and. said, "Here have been two 

 heads at work with this composition. Harcourt intended it as 

 a refusal from Miss Douglas, but the lady, having set her mind 

 on accepting Lord Vancourt, has endeavoured to nullify his 

 intentions, and so far has succeeded that any man may take it 

 as an acceptance from her guardian, and in that light I should 

 certainly recommend Lord Vancourt to consider it. The last 

 sentence, ' That Lord Vancourt has both Mr. and Mrs. Har- 

 court's best wishes for his ultimate success in obtaining their 

 niece's hand, and that no persuasions on their part shall be 

 wanting to effect so desirable a consummation,' is the very 

 admission we desired. My advice, therefore, is, that Lord 

 Vancourt should ride over to-morrow, express his warm 

 obligations to Mr. and Mrs. Harcourt for their friendly senti- 

 ments towards himself, and endeavour to obtain an interview 

 with the young lady ; and I doubt not, from her timidity and 

 fear of her aunt's displeasure, such an answer may be extorted 

 from her own lips as to be construed into an acceptance, or, at 

 least, so Lord Vancourt will interpret it, and then what is to 

 follow will appear almost as a natural consequence, for on one 

 point I am thoroughly satisfied, from what I overheard men- 

 tioned by several persons in the ball-room the other night, that 

 Lord Vancourt has not a day to spare ; in fact, Melville told 

 Bob Conyers that he was going to town the next day on 

 purpose to collect information about the Italian and a certain 

 person's affairs, which he was determined to communicate to 

 Mr. and Mrs. Harcourt without delay, for he swore Miss 

 Douglas should never marry such an impostor. Those were his 

 words, my lord, although they must be very unpalatable for 

 you to hear. The blacksmith, therefore, is your only chance. 

 Independent of which, you are already blown upon by Markham, 

 whose sister, Selina, spoke pretty plain, as she always does." 



