Page:A strange, sad comedy (IA strangesadcomedy00seawiala).pdf/256

244 Farebrother's countenance was a study during all this. When the Colonel had left the room, he turned to Letty and said, half laughing as he spoke, "Is it possible that Colonel Corbin picked up Madame de Fonblanque at the river landing and brought her here to stay until she chooses to quit?"

"Of course," answered Letty, tartly. "What else was there left to do?"

A great part of Farebrother's enjoyment of his Corbin Hall friends consisted in their simplicity and the number of hearty laughs they afforded him.

"I declare, Miss Corbin," he exclaimed, after indulging himself in a masculine ha-ha, "it's a great thing to know a place where one can get a new sensation. It can always be had in Virginia. You are certainly the simplest people about some things and the shrewdest about others I ever saw."

"Thank you," answered Letty, smiling, "but, please, as I am not quite a woman of the world yet—tell me what is the matter with Madame de Fonblanque?"

"Nothing on earth that I know of. But there is room for suspicion in everybody's mind who knows the world. What is her