"Promise me that you will be good," said Lady Estelle.
"Oh, I'll promise; but then, I don't keep promises. I don't think I shall be good. I shall laugh in school, and eat all the red apples, and run away to ride, when I am told not."
"Very small sins, overcome in time," laughed the duke.
"Perhaps you would like me to sing for you," said Doris, and with a voice sweet, strong, and clear, she broke into an old ballad, caught from Patty's lips, but vastly improved in her rendering. Her visitors were enchanted.
"You are a very clever little lady," said the duke.
"Oh, yes, I am a lady," said Doris, positively, "and when I am big I shall be just like you," she added to Estelle.
"We must go," said Lady Estelle Hereford, hastily. "Mamma, I feel quite warm and faint. I want outdoor air."
CHAPTER VI.
FAITHLESS AND DEBONAIR.
The duke placed a shining gold sovereign in the hand of Doris, and another in the hand of the quiet Mattie. The duchess looked at the honest, healthy, pleasant face of little Mattie, her frank brown eyes, and simple, rustic manners, and said, suddenly: