The good count, seeing that Lord Colambre was in much distress of
mind, did all he could to soothe him by kindness: far from making any
difficulty about giving up a few hours of his time, he seemed to have
no other object in London, and no purpose in life, but to attend to
our hero. To put him at ease, and to give him time to recover and
arrange his thoughts, the count talked of indifferent subjects.

"I think I heard you mention the name of Sir James Brooke."

"Yes, I expected to have seen him when the servant first mentioned a
friend from Ireland; because Sir James had told me that, as soon as he
could get leave of absence, he would come to England."

"He is come; is now at his estate in Huntingdonshire; doing, what
do you think? I will give you a leading hint; recollect the seal
which the little De Cressy put into your hands the day you dined
at Oranmore. Faithful to his motto, 'Deeds, not words,' he is this
instant, I believe, at deeds, title deeds; making out marriage
settlements, getting ready to put his seal to the happy articles."

"Happy man! I give him joy," said Lord Colambre: "happy man! going to
be married to such a woman--daughter of such a mother."

"Daughter of such a mother! That is indeed a great addition and a
great security to his happiness," said the count. "Such a family
to marry into; good from generation to generation; illustrious by
character as well as by genealogy; 'all the sons brave, and all the
daughters chaste.'"

Lord Colambre with difficulty repressed his feelings. "If I could