the foreign office, from top to bottom, was very much moved on the occasion,—and not without cause. the title of di crinola was quite historic, and had existed for centuries. no duca di crinola,—at any rate, no respectable duca di crinola,—could be in england even as a temporary visitant without being considered as entitled to some consideration from the foreign office. the existing duke of that name, who had lately been best known, was at present a member of the italian ministry. had he come he would have been entitled to great consideration. but he, as now appeared, was not the real duca di crinola. the real duke was an englishman,—or an anglicized italian, or an italianized englishman. no one in the foreign office, not even the most ancient pundit there, quite knew what he was. it was clear that the foreign office must take some notice of the young nobleman. but in all this was not contained more than half of the real reasons for peculiar consideration. this anglicized italian duca was known to be engaged to the daughter of an english marquis, to a lady who, if not niece, was next door to being niece to the secretary of state for foreign affairs himself! many years must have passed since an individual had sprung into notice so interesting in many different ways to all the body of the foreign office!

and this personage was a clerk in the post office! there had no doubt been a feeling in the foreign office, if not of actual disgrace, at any rate of mingled shame and regret, that a niece of their secretary of state should have engaged herself to one so low. had he been in the foreign office himself something might have been made of him;—but a clerk in the post office! the thing had been whispered about and talked over, till there had come up an idea that lady frances should be sent away on some compulsory foreign mission, so as to be out of the pernicious young man's reach. but now it turned out suddenly that the young man was the duca di crinola, and it was evident to all of them that lady frances trafford was justified in her choice.

but what was to be done with the duca? rumours reached the foreign office that the infatuated young nobleman intended to adhere to his most unaristocratic position. the absurdity of a clerk of the third class in one of the branches of the post office, with a salary of a hundred and seventy a year, and sitting in the same room with crockers and bobbins while he would have to be called by everybody the duca di crinola, was apparent to the mind of the lowest foreign office official. it couldn't be so, they said to each other. something must be done. if government pay were necessary to him, could he not be transformed by a leap into the elysium of their own department, where he might serve with some especial name invented for the occasion? then there arose questions which no man could answer. were he to be introduced into this new-fangled office proposed for him, would he come in as an englishman or an italian; and if as an englishman, was it in accordance with received rules of etiquette that he should be called duca di crinola? would it be possible in so special a case to get special permission from the crown; or if not, could he be appointed to the foreign office as a foreigner? the special permission, though it was surrounded by so many difficulties, yet seemed to be easier and less monstrous than this latter suggestion. they understood that though he could not well be dismissed from the office which he already held, it might be difficult to appoint a foreign nobleman to the performance of duties which certainly required more than ordinary british tendencies. in this way the mind of the foreign office was moved, and the coming of the young duke was awaited with considerable anxiety.

the news went beyond the foreign office. whether it was that the secretary of state himself told the story to the ladies of his household, or that it reached them through private secretaries, it was certainly the case that lady persiflage was enabled to write a very interesting letter to her sister, and that lady amaldina took the occasion of congratulating her cousin and of informing her lover.

lady kingsbury, when she received the news, was still engaged in pointing out to her husband the iniquity of his elder children in having admitted the visit of mr. roden to hendon hall. this, she persisted in saying, had been done in direct opposition to most solemn promises made by all the parties concerned. the marquis at the time had recovered somewhat of his strength, in consequence, as was said among the household, of the removal of mr. greenwood into shrewsbury. and the marchioness took advantage of this improved condition on the part of her husband to make him sensible of the abominable iniquity of which the young persons had been guilty. the visit had occurred two months since, but the iniquity to lady kingsbury's thinking still demanded express condemnation and, if possible, punishment. "a direct and premeditated falsehood on the part of them all!" said lady kingsbury, standing over her husband, who was recumbent on the sofa in his own room.

"no; it wasn't," said the marquis, who found it easier to deny the whole charge than to attempt in his weakness to divide the guilt.

"my dear! when she was allowed to go to hendon hall, was it not done on a sacred pledge that she should not see that horrid man? did not hampstead repeat the promise to my own ears?"

"how could he help his coming? i wish you wouldn't trouble me about it any more."

"then i suppose that she is to have your leave to marry the man whenever she chooses!"

then he roused himself with whatever strength he possessed, and begged her to leave him. with much indignation she stalked out of the room, and going to her apartments found the following letter, which had just arrived from her sister;—

my dear clara,—

as you are down in the country, i suppose the news about fanny's "young man" has not yet reached you.

fanny's young man! had fanny been the housemaid, it was thus that they might have spoken of her lover. could it be that "fanny and her young man" had already got themselves married? lady kingsbury, when she read this, almost let the letter drop from her hand, so much was she disgusted by the manner in which her sister spoke of this most unfortunate affair.

i heard something of it only yesterday, and the rest of the details to-day. as it has come through the foreign office you may be quite sure that it is true, though it is so wonderful. the young man is not george roden at all, nor is he an englishman. he is an italian, and his proper name and title is duca di crinola.

again lady kingsbury allowed the letter almost to drop; but on this occasion with feelings of a very different nature. what! not george roden! not a miserable clerk in the english post office! duca di crinola;—a title of which she thought that she remembered to have heard as belonging to some peculiarly ancient family! it was not to be believed. and yet it came from her sister, who was usually correct in all such matters;—and came also from the foreign office, which she regarded as the one really trustworthy source of information as to foreign matters of an aristocratic nature. "duca di crinola!" she said to herself, as she went on with the reading of her letter.

there is a long story of the marriage of his mother which i do not quite understand as yet, but it is not necessary to the facts of the case. the young man has been recognized in his own country as entitled to all the honours of his family, and must be received so by us. persiflage says that he will be ready to present him at court on his return as duca di crinola, and will ask him at once to dine in belgrave square. it is a most romantic story, but must be regarded by you and me as being very fortunate, as dear fanny had certainly set her heart upon marrying the man. i am told that he inherits nothing but the bare title. some foreign noblemen are, you know, very poor; and in this case the father, who was a "mauvais sujet," contrived to destroy whatever rights of property he had. lord kingsbury probably will be able to do something for him. perhaps he may succeed in getting official employment suited to his rank. at any rate we must all of us make the best of him for fanny's sake. it will be better to have a duca di crinola among us, even though he should not have a shilling, than a post office clerk with two or three hundred a year.

i asked persiflage to write to lord kingsbury; but he tells me that i must do it all, because he is so busy. were my brother-in-law well enough i think he should come up to town to make inquiry himself and to see the young man. if he cannot do so, he had better get hampstead to take him down to trafford. hampstead and this young duchino are luckily bosom friends. it tells well for hampstead that, after all, he did not go so low for his associates as you thought he did. amaldina intends to write to fanny to congratulate her.

your affectionate sister,

geraldine persiflage.

duca di crinola! she could not quite believe it;—and yet she did believe it. nor could she be quite sure as to herself whether she was happy in believing it or the reverse. it had been terrible to her to think that she should have to endure the name of being stepmother to a clerk in the post office. it would not be at all terrible to her to be stepmother to a duca di crinola, even though the stepson would have no property of his own. that little misfortune would, as far as the feelings of society went, be swallowed up amidst the attributes of rank. nothing would sound better than duchessa or duchessina! and, moreover, it would be all true! this was no paltry title which might be false, or might have been picked up, any how, the other day. all the world would know that the italian duke was the lineal representative of a magnificent family to whom this identical rank had belonged for many years. there were strong reasons for taking the young duke and the young duchess to her heart at once.

but then there were other reasons why she should not wish it to be true. in the first place she hated them both. let the man be duca di crinola as much as he might, he would still have been a post office clerk, and lady frances would have admitted his courtship having believed him at the time to have been no more than a post office clerk. the sin would have been not the less abominable in the choice of her lover, although it might be expedient that the sin should be forgiven. and then the girl had insulted her, and there had been that between them which would prevent the possibility of future love; and would it not be hard upon her darlings if it should become necessary to carve out from the family property a permanent income for this italian nobleman, and for a generation of italian noblemen to come; and then what a triumph would this be for hampstead, who, of all human beings, was the most distasteful to her.

but upon the whole she thought it would be best to accept the duca. she must, indeed, accept him. nothing that she could do would restore the young man to his humble desk and humble name. nor would the marquis be actuated by any prayer of hers in reference to the carving of the property. it would be better for her to accept the young duke and the young duchess, and make the best of them. if only the story should at last be shown to be true!

the duty was imposed on her of communicating the story to the marquis; but before she did so she was surprised by a visit from mr. greenwood. mr. roberts had used no more than the violence of argument, and mr. greenwood had been induced to take himself to shrewsbury on the day named for his departure. if he went he would have ￡200 a year from the marquis,—and ￡100 would be added by lord hampstead, of which the marquis need not know anything. unless he went on the day fixed that ￡100 would not be added. a good deal was said on either side, but he went. the marquis had refused to see him. the marchioness had bade him adieu in a most formal manner,—in a manner quite unbecoming those familiar suggestions which, he thought, had been made to him as to a specially desirable event. but he had gone, and as he went he told himself that circumstances might yet occur in the family which might be of use to him. he, too, had heard the great family news,—perhaps through some under-satellite of the foreign office, and he came with the idea that he would be the first to make it known at trafford park.

he would have asked for the marquis, but he knew that the marquis would not receive him. lady kingsbury consented to see him, and he was ushered up to the room to which he had so often made his way without any asking. "i hope you are well, mr. greenwood," she said. "are you still staying in the neighbourhood?" it was, however, well known at trafford that he was at shrewsbury.

"yes, lady kingsbury. i have not gone from the neighbourhood. i thought that perhaps you might want to see me again."

"i don't know that we need trouble you, mr. greenwood."

"i have come with some news respecting the family." as he said this he managed to assume the old look, and stood as though he had never moved from the place since he had last been in the room.

"do sit down, mr. greenwood. what news?"

"mr. george roden, the clerk in the post office—"

but she was not going to have the tidings repeated to her by him, so as to give him any claim to gratitude for having brought them. "you mean the duca di crinola!"

"oh," exclaimed mr. greenwood.

"i have heard all that, mr. greenwood."

"that the post office clerk is an italian nobleman?"

"it suited the italian nobleman for a time to be a post office clerk. that is what you mean."

"and lady frances is to be allowed—"

"mr. greenwood, i must ask you not to discuss lady frances here."

"oh! not to discuss her ladyship!"

"surely you must be aware how angry the marquis has been about it."

"oh!" he had not seated himself, nor divested himself of that inquisitorial appearance which was so distasteful to her. "we used to discuss lady frances sometimes, lady kingsbury."

"i will not discuss her now. let that be enough, mr. greenwood."

"nor yet lord hampstead."

"nor yet lord hampstead. i think it very wrong of you to come after all that took place. if the marquis knew it—"

oh! if the marquis knew it! if the marquis knew all, and if other people knew all! if it were known how often her ladyship had spoken, and how loud, as to the wished-for removal to a better world of his lordship's eldest son! but he could not dare to speak it out. and yet it was cruel on him! he had for some days felt her ladyship to be under his thumb, and now it seemed that she had escaped from him. "oh! very well, lady kingsbury. perhaps i had better go,—just for the present." and he went.

this served, at least, for corroboration. she did not dare to keep the secret long from her husband, and therefore, in the course of the evening, went down with her sister's letter in her hand. "what!" said the marquis, when the story had been read to him. "what! duca di crinola."

"there can't be a doubt about it, my dear."

"and he a clerk in the post office?"

"he isn't a clerk in the post office now."

"i don't quite see what he will be then. it appears that he has inherited nothing."

"my sister says nothing."

"then what's the good of his title. there is nothing so pernicious in the world as a pauper aristocracy. a clerk in the post office is entitled to have a wife, but a poor nobleman should at any rate let his poverty die with himself."

this was a view of the case which had not hitherto presented itself to lady kingsbury. when she suggested to him that the young nobleman should be asked down to trafford, he did not seem to see that it was at all necessary. it would be much better that fanny should come back. the young nobleman would, he supposed, live in his own country;—unless, indeed, the whole tale was a cock-and-bull story made up by persiflage at the foreign office. it was just the sort of thing, he said, that persiflage would do. he had said not a word as to carving an income out of the property for the young noble couple when she left him.