CHAPTER XV.

Two years and five months have elapsed since the memorable day when Audrey Hope and Lord Lorrimore parted. She had promised him to remain single for two years, and during all that time she had not heard from him. Five months ago, the period expressed in her promise had expired, and now she was free—free to bestow her hand on any deserving man whom she could love. She had many suitors, the most persistent of whom was Sir Jordan Lynne, whose political advancement had been so rapid that now it was popular gossip that …