The earl was speeding to London, and the chaise to convey him to the railway station at West Lynne was already at the door when Mr.Carlyle arrived.
"I was getting fidgety fearing you would not be here, for I have barely five minutes to spare," observed the earl, as he shook hands.

"You are sure you fully understood about the tombstone ?" "Perfectly," replied Mr.Carlyle.

"How is Lady Isabel ?" "Very down-hearted, I fear, poor child, for she did not breakfast with me," replied the earl.

"Mason privately told me that she was in a convulsion of grief.

A bad man, a _bad_ man, was Mount Severn," he emphatically added, as he rose and rang the bell.
"Let Lady Isabel be informed that I am ready to depart, and that I wait to see her," he said the servant who answered it.