At that moment General Armour, Mrs. Armour, and Marion appeared on the
door-step, and the carriage came wheeling up the drive. What Richard
intended to say was left unsaid. The chances were it never would be
said.

"Well, well," said General Armour, calling down at them, "escort his
imperial highness to the chariot which awaits him, and then ho! for
London town. Come along, my daughter," he said to Lali; "come up here
and take the last whiff of Greyhope that you will have for six months.
Dear, dear, what lunatics we all are, to be sure! Why, we're as happy as
little birds in their nests out in the decent country, and yet we scamper
off to a smoky old city by the Thames to rush along with the world,
instead of sitting high and far away from it and watching it go by. God
bless my soul, I'm old enough to know better! Well, let me help you in,
my dear," he added to his wife; "and in you go, Marion; and in you go,
your imperial highness"--he passed the child awkwardly in to Marion;
"and in you go, my daughter," he added, as he handed Lali in, pressing
her hand with a brusque fatherliness as he did so. He then got in after
them.

Richard came to the side of the carriage and bade them all good-bye one
by one. Lali gave him her hand, but did not speak a word. He called a
cheerful adieu, the horses were whipped up, and in a moment Richard was
left alone on the steps of the house. He stood for a time looking, then
he turned to go into the house, but changed his mind, sat down, lit a
cigar, and did not move from his seat until he was summoned to his lonely
luncheon.

Nobody thought much of leaving Richard behind at Greyhope. It seemed the