They were not permitted, they said, to leave their own domain.
On this last evening his host was alone, and after some indifferent conversation he told Arthur the following story, and made a proposal which had a strange influence on the rest of his life: "You may have wondered," he said, "at the cause which brought me here, and keeps me here.

I have often admired your courtesy, which has made no attempts to discover my antecedents; it is not the usual characteristic of our nation.

If you are disposed to hear, I am willing to give you a little autobiographical outline, which is a necessary preface to a request which I am going to make of you." He then mentioned his name and parentage--facts which I am not at liberty to repeat.

They surprised even Arthur when he heard them; they surprised me, when he communicated them to me, even more.
He was the son of an English nobleman of high rank and wealth and aristocratic traditions, and was reported to be long since dead.
Many people will no doubt remember the shock which the news of the premature death of this individual, when announced in Europe, made.
It took place at Palermo in 1853.

More than that I am not at liberty to state.
"My reasons for this were as follows," said his host.