“A duchess!” she exclaimed. “Don’t you understand? Oh! how glad I am! Duchess of Belfayre! Are you sure it isn’t quite settled?”
“No; I said I’d see,” said Esmeralda.
Lady Wyndover emitted a kind of moan.
“How innocent you are!” she exclaimed. “You ought to have said ‘Yes’ at once! My dear child, Lord Trafford is the great catch. He has been most ‘difficult,’ as the French say. It is a great triumph for you to have caught him so soon.”
Esmeralda frowned again.
“He has asked me to go down to see his relations,” she said.
“Then it is settled!” exclaimed Lady Wyndover. “Oh! I’m so happy! Fancy! Duchess of Belfayre! My dear child, you don’t realize what it means! You’ll be one of the leaders of society! One of the most powerful women in London—and London is everything! With your money and his rank you can become a queen of society! Oh! I am so glad!”
Esmeralda looked at her dreamily.
“I may not marry him,” she said. “It is not settled. I am to go down to Belfayre to—to see—”
Lady Wyndover clapped her hands softly.