"Yes, I know," said Carlton, doubtfully; "but it's a bit
sudden, isn't it?"

"Oh, I am ashamed of you! You are frightened."

"No, not frightened, exactly," said the painter. "I think
it's just natural emotion."

As Carlton turned into Albemarle Street he noticed a red
carpet stretching from the doorway of Brown's Hotel out across
the sidewalk to a carriage, and a bareheaded man bustling
about apparently assisting several gentlemen to get into it.
This and another carriage and Nolan's four-wheeler blocked the
way; but without waiting for them to move up, Carlton leaned
out of his hansom and called the bareheaded man to its side.

"Is the Duke of Hohenwald stopping at your hotel?" he asked.
The bareheaded man answered that he was.

"All right, Nolan," cried Carlton. "They can take in the trunks."

Hearing this, the bareheaded man hastened to help Carlton to
alight. "That was the Duke who just drove off, sir; and
those," he said, pointing to three muffled figures who were
stepping into a second carriage, "are his sisters, the Princesses."

Carlton stopped midway, with one foot on the step and the
other in the air.