"Philippa, my dear, it may not be my duty to speak, but I cannot help asking you if you notice anything?"
"No, nothing at this minute."
But Lady Peters shook her head with deepest gravity.
"Do you not notice the great attention that Lord Arleigh pays your beautiful young companion?"
"Yes, I have noticed it," said the duchess--and all her efforts did not prevent a burning, passionate flush rising to her face.
"May I ask you what you think of it, my dear?"
"I think nothing of it. If Lord Arleigh chooses to fall in love with her, he may. I warned him when she first came to live with me--I kept her most carefully out of his sight; and then, when I could no longer conveniently do so, I told him that he must not fall in love with her. I told him of her birth, antecedents, misfortunes--everything connected with her. His own mother or sister could not have warned him more sensibly."
"And what was the result?" asked Lady Peters, gravely.
"Just what one might have expected from a man," laughed the duchess. "Warn them against any particular thing, and it immediately possesses a deep attraction for them. The result was that he said she was his ideal, fairly, fully, and perfectly realized. I, of course, could say no more."
"But," cried Lady Peters, aghast, "you do not think it probable that he will marry her?"