So I had been altogether well pleased
to find her with the Radnors when we chanced upon them during the
stroll around the room, and I had engaged a pair of dances to give us a
chance for a quiet little chat.
"Do you know, Major, for a stranger you are arousing extraordinary
curiosity?" she remarked, as we sat on the terrace.
I smiled. "Yes, I believe I am."
She looked surprised. "So you have heard of it?"
"I knew it years ago."
"Oh, how stupid!" she exclaimed. "Of course, this is not your first
visit to Dornlitz. Yet, it's a queer coincidence that you should have
both the family name and the great Henry's features."
"Oh, no," said I; "not particularly queer, since I am his
great-great-grandson."
She closed her fan with a snap. "His great-great-grandson!" she echoed.
I nodded.
"But I thought yours an old American family. Didn't you tell me, one
day at Mount Vernon, that a Dalberg fought with Washington?"
It was my turn to be surprised. I had long forgotten both the
circumstance and the remark. "And I told you truly enough," I answered.
She frowned a bit; then shook her head. "I cannot understand," she
said.
Doubtless I was foolish--Courtney would have called it something
stronger--but, nevertheless, I told her the story of Hugo.
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