"
Linda, Countess of Sussex, came with her husband the Earl, and her
daughter, the Lady Alice Hastings, a tall, statuesque blonde, in her
twenty-eighth year.
"I've something wonderful to tell you," said the Countess to Quincy
and his wife. "My daughter is soon to be married, but not to one of
our set. Her choice has fallen upon Mr. John Langdon, an American.
He's very wealthy, and is coming to England to live. Isn't that
romantic--so out of the usual."
"America loses every time," said Quincy. "First our girls and their
father's money, and now our men and their money. In time, England
will form part of the great American nation."
"You mean," said the Countess, "the great English-speaking nation,"
and Quincy bowed in acceptance of the amendment.
The probating of the will, making arrangement for the sale of
Fernborough Hall, and providing for the payment of the proceeds and
annual income to Quincy Jr. caused a long delay, for English law
moves but little faster than it did when Jarndyce brought suit
against Jarndyce.
Quincy Jr. and Tom were thrown on their own resources during the long
wait. London was their resort, and, to them, Scotland Yard and its
detectives, the most interesting part of the city.
When the party finally embarked, by a coincidence, it was on the
_Gallia_ which had brought young Quincy and his companion to England
seven months before.
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