They were attentive enough, by this time, and every eye was turned, not unkindly, upon the youth who had so long been an enigma to them all—­except, perhaps, to Louise.

“I am an American by birth, and my name is Arthur Weldon.”

In the pause that followed Uncle John gave a soft whistle and Patsy laughed outright, to the undisguised indignation of Louise.

“Years ago,” resumed the youth, “my father, who was a rich man, made a trip to Sicily and, although I did not know this until recently, was seized by brigands and imprisoned in the hidden valley we have just left.  There he fell in love with a beautiful girl who was the daughter of the female brigand known as the Duchess of Alcanta, and who assisted him to escape and then married him.  It was a pretty romance at the time, but when my father had taken his bride home to New York and became immersed in the details of his business, his love grew cold and he began to neglect his wife cruelly.  He became a railway president and amassed a great fortune, but was not so successful a husband as he was a financier.  The result was that the Sicilian girl, after some years of unhappiness and suffering, deserted him and returned to her own country, leaving her child, then three years old, behind her.  To be frank with you, it was said at the time that my mother’s mind had become unbalanced, or she would not have abandoned me to the care of a loveless father, but I prefer to think that she had come to hate her husband so bitterly that she could have no love for his child or else she feared that her terrible mother would kill me if I came into her power.  Her flight mattered little to my father, except that it made him more stern and tyrannical toward me.  He saw me very seldom and confided my education to servants.  So I grew up practically unloved and uncared for, and when the proper time arrived I was sent to college.  My father now gave me an ample allowance, and at the close of my college career called me into his office and ordered me to enter the employ of the railway company.  I objected to this.  I did not like the business and had other plans for my future.  But he was stubborn and dictatorial, and when I continued unsubmissive he threatened to cast me off entirely and leave his fortune to charity, since he had no other near relatives.  He must have thought better of this decision afterward, for he gave me a year to decide whether or not I would obey him.  At the end of that time, he declared, I would become either a pauper or his heir, at my option.

“It was during this year that I formed the acquaintance of your niece, Miss Merrick, and grew to love her devotedly.  Louise returned my affection, but her mother, learning of my quarrel with my father, refused to sanction our engagement until I was acknowledged his heir.  I was forbidden her house, but naturally we met elsewhere, and when I knew she was going to Europe with you, sir, who had never seen me, we hit