Lady Linleigh sat in silence for some minutes, then looking up, she said:
"We will not argue over it, my dear child; but you will promise to be very nice to the duchess, and try to win her liking?"
"Certainly, I promise, Lady Linleigh. Tell me, is the duchess a lady of great importance?"
"Yes, she is, indeed, she has much influence at court and in society."
"Then I will do all I can, not only to make her like me, but to make her speak favorably of me. Shall you be pleased, then, dear Lady Linleigh?"
Yes, she would be pleased; but she owned to herself, with a deep sigh, that it was impossible to arouse any deep or true feeling, any noble sentiment, any generous idea, in the girl's mind. Appeal to her vanity, her interest, her ambition, you were sure to find some answering chord. Appeal to anything else was utterly in vain.
Lady Doris laughed to herself as the countess, with something like disappointment in her face, quitted the room.
"I have heard the proverb, 'Love me, love my dog,'" she said to herself. "I never heard, 'Love me, love my mother.'"
Still, the fact that the coming visitor was a duchess, and a person of very great importance, the wife of one of the wealthiest dukes in England, was not without its influence on her; she resolved, therefore, to be most charming and gracious.
She was secretly amused at Lady Linleigh's anxiety over her dress. On the day when the visitors were expected, she said to her: