"It is very beautiful," she replied; "to me it seems like fairyland."
"I have been staying here for a week," he continued, "and I have not seen half the beauty of the Castle yet."
"You have been staying here!" she said, with unconscious stress on the word "here."
"Yes; I admire the scenery hereabouts. I think it is almost about the finest we have."
"I have never been out of this county," she replied, "so I cannot tell."
He raised his dark brows in surprise.
"You have never been away from home?" he said; "what a pity, and what a shame!"
"Why is it a shame?" she asked, with another of those sweet glances that invited him to woo her.
"Providence does not send such a face as yours in the world once in a century," he replied, "and then all the world should see it." Doris looked pleased, not shy or timid; she was perfectly at home with him, and he saw it. "I must introduce myself," he said, "as Lady Estelle does not return—I am Lord Charles Vivianne—if I dare, I should ask to whom I have the honor of speaking."
She did blush then with gratified vanity and delight. It was something that she should have a handsome lord by her side, and that he should admire her. He did admire her, she knew; she could read it in his eyes and the flattering homage of his smile.