Selwyn."
"Yes, I was talking with him," said Mr. King, "but excuse me, I was not
bored. He is peculiar, but not at all common, and he has many good
qualities as a man; and I like the boy immensely."
"How can you?" Mrs. Vanderburgh gave a little high-bred laugh. "They
are so insufferably common, Mr. King, those Selwyns are."
"Excuse me," said Mr. King, "that was the Earl of Cavendish; it will do
no harm to mention it now, as they have gone."
"Who--who?" demanded Mrs. Vanderburgh in a bewildered way.
"I did not know it till this morning," Mr. King was explaining, "but
our fellow-passenger, Mr. Selwyn, chose to cross over keeping his real
identity unknown, and I must say I admire his taste in the matter; and
anyway it was his affair and not mine." It was a long speech, and at
its conclusion Mrs. Vanderburgh was still demanding, "Who--who?" in as
much of a puzzle as ever.
"The Earl of Cavendish," repeated Mr. King; "Mr. Selwyn is the Earl of
Cavendish. As I say, he did not wish it known, and--"
"Fanny--Fanny!" called her mother, sitting helplessly on the first
thing that presented itself, a box of merchandise by no means clean.
"Fan-ny! the--the Earl of Cavendish!" She could get no further.
Little Dr. Fisher, who administered restoratives and waited on Mrs.
Vanderburgh and her daughter to their London train, came skipping back
to the Liverpool hotel.
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