"She must be well-educated and well-bred."
"She is a lady about my age, but handsomer."
"I will not believe that, Clara," said the old lady, smiling.
"But she is—taller, more queenly. You will like her so much! Besides, she is in such trouble. I will tell you all about it, grandmamma."
Then Lady Clara told Caroline's story; how she had been brought up by a good man, believing herself his child, until he and his good wife died, and, just as she grew into womanhood was claimed by the actress Olympia, who was determined to force her upon the stage, from which she shrank with a loathing that had made her ill. Lady Clara did not mention the name of Daniel Yates, because it had made no impression upon her, if, indeed, she had heard it; but she succeeded in interesting the old countess, and it was decided that Caroline and the servant who had clung to her so faithfully should be sent for.
When Lady Clara left her grandmother's room, the face that had been so clouded was radiant, for, after having all her anxieties swept away, as it seemed by a miracle, she had ventured upon a positive request, which made her breath come short as she made it.
With some adroitness, and a talent that would have made her fortune on the stage, she brought the subject round to Lady Hope, and from her to the fact that she had an only brother, who had travelled in foreign parts for years, but had just come back to England, and had been at Oakhurst.
The old lady listened with gentle attention, but did not divine Clara's wishes by intuition as she had before.
"He is mamma Rachael's only relative, and she loves him dearly," said Clara. "I think she would always like to have him with her."
Even this gentle hint did not arouse the old lady, who was falling back into a pleasant lethargy, so common to aged persons.