"It is so very strange that you should have this spirit, Miss Bush. If you had not told me of your parentage I should have said you were of the same root and branch as Lady Garribardine. Are you sure you are not a changeling?"
"Quite sure. How proud it must make you feel to own Valfreyne, and what obligations it must entail!"
"Yes," and he sighed.
"It must make you weigh every action to see if it is worthy of one who must be an example for so many people."
"That is how you look upon great position—it is a noble way."
"Why, of course—it could not be right to hold all this in trust for your descendants, and for the glory of England, and then to think yourself free to squander it, and degrade the standard. All feeling would have to give way to worthily fulfilling your trust."
The Duke felt his heart sink—a strange feeling of depression came over him.
"I suppose you are right," and he sighed again.
"I was so much interested in the story of your ring," she said presently, to lift the silence which had fallen upon them both. "It is such a strange idea that great good fortune is unlucky—since we always draw what we deserve. If we are foolish and draw misfortune at the beginning of our lives, we must of course pay the price, but if people's brains are properly balanced they should not fear good fortune in itself."