"And mind," she said to him before they parted, "your lady friend and I must go away from London by ourselves. You can meet us in the country if you like, but when you come we must be together."
With this understanding they had parted an hour before his visit to Mrs. Lenoir.
As he stood considering these matters in the presence of Mrs. Lenoir, who, uneasy at the turn the conversation had taken, was waiting anxiously for him to speak, a happy idea, as he believed it to be, flashed across his mind. Why should he not come to an understanding with this woman, whose appearance was so lady-like and whose manners were so gentle, and palm her off upon the Duchess as one of his lady friends who had consented to accompany her in her flight? It was not at all likely that the Duchess, supposing Mrs. Lenoir were well and fashionably dressed, would recognise in her the woman whose face she had seen but once, and that but for a moment or two, and in a dim, uncertain light. Once away from England, and free from the fears of detection which were beginning to oppress him, he would experience no difficulty in getting rid of the encumbrance, and pursuing his journey to America with the Duchess alone. His eyes brightened as he looked into Mrs. Lenoir's troubled face, and said, with just a glance at Lizzie:
"I should like to have a few words with you in private."
With a little toss of her head, indicative of a grudge against the stranger for depriving her of the means of gratifying her curiosity, Lizzie left the room.
"Mrs. Lenoir," said Ned, casting about in his mind for the proper words to use, and quite unconscious that he was the object of a deeper scrutiny than he had bestowed upon the woman before him; "Mrs. Lenoir--by the bye, that _is_ your name?"
"Have you reason to doubt it?" enquired Mrs. Lenoir, with quickened breath.
"No; I only asked out of idle curiosity," adding, with familiar assurance, "Mrs. Lenoir, you are a poor woman."
Mrs. Lenoir made a motion with her hand, which denoted that the appearance of her room afforded a sufficient answer to the question. Her eyes never left his face, as though they were seeking to see the workings of his mind.
"You need give yourself no uneasiness," proceeded Ned, "about the cigar-case."