"I once saw a flower," he said, "that I would defy all creation to equal."
"Did you? For my part, I think them all beautiful alike. Have you seen the japonicas here?"
"No, I have only just arrived."
To himself he added, despairingly:
"I must be wrong. She could not be so frankly unconcerned. Besides, how could the girl I took to Florence with me be Lord Studleigh's daughter?"
"Did you like Downsbury Castle?" he asked, again.
"Yes, but I cannot say that I was ecstatically happy there."
"Why not?" he asked. "You ought to be happy everywhere."
She laughed a low, musical laugh.
"I do not think," she said, "that I was a great favorite with her grace."