"You have been to Downsbury Castle, have you not?"
A sudden light came over her face, then she laughed.
"Can it be Lady Estelle Hereford?" she cried. "Oh, papa, you will never forgive me for calling her tame."
"I have forgiven you. Do you not think you will be very happy with her?"
"I am sure I shall like her very much; she is so fair, so well-bred, so gentle. How little I dreamed, papa, on that day I was sitting so near to her, that she would be my step-mother—that I should ever live with her. I am so glad!"
She did not understand why his face quivered, as with pain. He drew the bright golden head down to his breast.
"My darling," he said, gently, "you shall have all the love, the care, the affection that a father can show his child—you shall have everything your heart desires and wishes for, if you will do one thing in return."
"I will do anything in return," she said.
And for once there was something like deep feeling in her voice.
"I want you to be kind to this wife of mine, Doris. She is not very strong: she has been petted and spoiled all her life. Be kind to her as though—as though you were her own child, or her own younger sister. Will you, Doris? Promise me that, and you will give me the greatest happiness that it is in your power to confer upon me."