"I suppose nothing more has been heard of the child; no one has claimed her, or the story would have reached us. I must confess that I feel some little curiosity as to what she is like. I should be pleased to see her."
"If the girl bears out the promise of her youth, she would be worth seeing," said the duchess.
The entrance of her husband interrupted her, and she said no more.
The Duke of Downsbury looked pleased.
"My dear," he said to his wife, "I am delighted. I have the finest agent in the country. The accounts and everything else are in the finest possible order. I am so pleased that I thought of giving a dinner to the tenants; it could be no annoyance to you, and it would be a nice little act of attention, after being absent so long."
The duchess quite agreed with the project. It would be a compliment to them, and a pleasure to herself, she said.
The duke smiled to think what an amiable wife he had.
"To all your tenants, papa?" said Lady Estelle, in her graceful, languid way.
"Yes, all of them—rich and poor; but then there are no poor."
She smiled.