"You will keep my secret always, Earle?"
"Always, Lady Linleigh, as I would guard my life or my honor."
"Even after you are married, when it will be most difficult to keep a secret from Doris, you will keep this—you will never let her know that I am her mother?"
"No; you may trust me until death," he said.
Then for some minutes there was silence. Lady Linleigh was the first to break it.
"Do you know how I shall try to reward you, Earle?" she asked.
"I think less of the reward than of the kindness that prompts it," he replied, gratefully.
"I shall do my best to further your interests in life—to help you to reach such a position as shall please Doris. I will hasten your marriage by every means in my power, and I will love you as though you were my own son. Do not look so grateful; they will wonder what I am saying to you. You understand, once and for all, I shall never allude to this again."
The next moment Lady Doris was laughingly accusing the countess of having asked her to sing, in order that she might talk at her ease.
"We are quite a family party," said Lord Linleigh. "Earle, do you play billiards?"