CHAPTER XL.
SEEKING A PLACE.
MRS. HIPPLE came into the room and found Lady Rose among her azure cushions, on which she had sunk with a deep sigh, and a blush of shame, at being so caught in the midst of her wild thoughts.
"Dear, dear, I wonder how your ladyship got in without my knowing it," she said, picking up the jaunty little hat which the girl had flung on the carpet. "We thought Sir Noel had taken you for a long drive."
"No matter, you need have been in no haste to come," said the young lady, turning her face from the light.
"But this poor hat. See how the lace and flowers are crushed together. Such a beauty as it was, and worn for the first time. But I do think it is past mending."
"Let them throw it aside, then," answered Rose, without looking at the pretty fabric of chip, lace, and flowers, over which Mrs. Hipple was mourning. "What is a hat, more or less, to any one?"
"Nothing to your ladyship, I know; but I haven't seen the young master admire anything so much this many a day."
"What! What were you saying, Mrs. Hipple?"