[CHAPTER XXXV.]
Kate Mansfield, Miss Dartelle's maid, had taken, as she expressed it, "a great fancy" to Gustave. She was a pretty, quick, bright-eyed girl, not at all accustomed to giving her smiles in vain. Gustave—who had been with Lord Chandon for many years—was handsome too in his way. He had an intelligent face, eyes that were bright and full of expression, and a somewhat mocking smile, which added, in Kate's mind, considerable to his charms. He had certainly appeared very attentive to her; and up to the present Kate had felt pretty sure of her conquest. She heard Gustave say, as his master was out for the day, he should have a long ramble on the seashore; and the pretty maid, having put on her most becoming bonnet, made some pretext for going to the shore at the same time. She quite expected to meet him, "And then," as she said to herself, with a smile, "the seaside is a romantic place. And who knows what may happen?"
But when Kate had reached the shore, and her bright eyes had wandered over the sands she saw no Gustave. "He has altered his mind," she thought, "and has gone elsewhere."
She walked on, somewhat disappointed, but feeling sure that she should meet him before she returned home. Presently her attention was attracted by the sound of a man's voice, and, looking round a bowlder, she saw Gustave in deep conversation with the governess, Miss Holte.
Kate was already jealous of Miss Holte—jealous of her beauty and of the favor with which Lady Dartelle regarded her.
"I do hate governesses!" Kate was wont to observe to her friends in the kitchen. "I can do with the airs and graces of real ladies—they seem natural—but I cannot endure governesses; they always seem to me neither the one thing nor the other."
Then a sharp battle of words would ensue with Mary King, who was devoted to the young governess.
"You may say what you like, Kate, but I tell you Miss Holte is a lady. I know one when I see one."
And now the jealous eyes of Kate Mansfield dwelt with fierce anger on Hyacinth.