A view of the subject which was quite new to Basil.
"I thought originality was a sign of genius," he replied, "and that people admired it."
She smiled with an air of superiority that left him miles behind.
"My observation teaches me that there is nothing worldly people disapprove of so highly as originality," she said. "To be more clever than your neighbor is a crime they never pardon."
Basil, drinking in the beauty of that marvelous face, and the light of those lovely eyes, learned more worldly wisdom in one hour from the lovely lips of Lady Amelie than he had ever learned before.
CHAPTER XI.
How the Plot Succeeded.
Colonel Mostyn had no longer any reason to complain of his young kinsman; it was a month since he had been introduced to Lady Amelie, and he had lived in one long dream. He no longer found the time wearisome, or longed for something to do. He was in the power of a beautiful and heartless coquette, who took care that he should not lightly wear her chains.