Four years passed by. The young people lived with the Blackwaters, and
their income kept the establishment going. Lady Alice had a child, and
was at first not altogether unhappy. She was little more than a timid
child herself; and no doubt, to begin with, she was in love. Then came
her majority. In defiance of all her trustees, she gave her whole
fortune to her husband, and no power could prevent her from so doing.
The Blackwater menage blazed up into a sudden splendor. Lady
Blackwater's carriage and Lady Blackwater's jewels had never been finer;
and amid the crowds who frequented the house, the slight figure, the
sallow face, and absent eyes of her step-daughter attracted little
remark. Lady Alice Wensleydale was said to be delicate and reserved; she
made no friends, explained herself to no one; and it was supposed that
she occupied herself with her little boy.
Then one December she disappeared from the apartment in the Place
Vendome. It was said that she and the boy found the climate of Paris too
cold in winter, and had gone for a time to Italy. Colonel Wensleydale
continued to live with the Blackwaters, and their apartment was no less
sumptuous, their dinners no less talked of, their extravagance no less
noisy than before.
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