"Oh, no!" she said, "I should not care for it, I would rather not."
"And I would give a year of my life," said Doris.
"You need not give anything," said Mark. "Dress yourself tidily, not finely," he added, with a touch of natural shrewdness. "One does not require finery in going to see a duchess."
"Shall I see the duchess?" asked Doris, opening her eyes wide with surprise.
Then Mark Brace perceived his error.
"I am a poor hand at keeping a secret," he thought. "If you go to the Castle," he replied, "it is very probable you will see the Duchess of Downsbury."
"I shall not be able to sleep from this moment till then," cried Doris.
And when Earle Moray came she could talk to him about nothing but the intensity of the pleasure in store for her. A hundred times and more did Mark repent giving the invitation; he had no peace, no rest; even Earle himself could not persuade her to talk about anything except the grandeur of Downsbury Castle.
"I am quite sorry I cannot go back to school for a few days," she said, "just to make all my school-fellows mad with jealousy."
"Why should they be mad?" asked Mattie.