The countess laughed.
"There is no place like Brackenside, is there, Mattie?"
"No," replied the girl, earnestly, "none—at least it seems so to me, because I love my home so very dearly."
Then Lady Linleigh placed her hand caressingly on the girl's shoulder.
"Mattie," she said, gently, "you were looking very sad and thoughtful a few minutes since. What were you thinking of?"
"Home—and Earle," was the frank reply.
Lady Linleigh was half startled.
"What about Earle?" she asked.
The brown eyes were raised wistfully to hers.
"Earle will be so unhappy, Lady Linleigh, without Doris. No one knows—no one can imagine how he loves her. I cannot think what his life is without her."