“I am glad they made so good an impression on him,” said Bessie, smiling.
The Duchess was not smiling; her large fresh face was very tranquil. “He is very susceptible,” she said. “He thinks everyone clever, and sometimes they are.”
“Sometimes,” Bessie assented, smiling still.
The duchess looked at her a little and then went on; “Lambeth is very susceptible, but he is very volatile, too.”
“Volatile?” asked Bessie.
“He is very inconstant. It won’t do to depend on him.”
“Ah,” said Bessie, “I don’t recognize that description. We have depended on him greatly—my sister and I—and he has never disappointed us.”
“He will disappoint you yet,” said the duchess.
Bessie gave a little laugh, as if she were amused at the duchess’s persistency. “I suppose it will depend on what we expect of him.”
“The less you expect, the better,” Lord Lambeth’s mother declared.