"Sir George and Lady Hampton."
"I shall not go," said Pauline, decidedly; "that woman sickens me with her false airs and silly, false graces. I have not patience to talk to her."
"Sir Oswald will not be pleased," remonstrated Miss Hastings.
"That I cannot help—it is not my fault. I shall not make myself a hypocrite to please Sir Oswald."
"Society has duties which must be discharged, and which do not depend upon our liking; we must do our duty whether we like it or not."
"I detest society," was the abrupt reply—"it is all a sham!"
"Then why not do your best to improve it? That would surely be better than to abuse it."
"There is something in that," confessed Miss Darrell, slowly.
"If we each do our little best toward making the world even ever so little better than we found it," said Miss Hastings, "we shall not have lived in vain."
There was a singular grandeur of generosity about the girl. If she saw that she was wrong in an argument or an opinion, she admitted it with the most charming candor. That admission she made now by rising at once to accompany Miss Hastings.