She shrugged her shoulders, and looked with her downright face full at Miss Tredgold.
“Never mind,” said that lady after a pause. “I can’t expect you to understand everything all at once; but my description of a real bit of the world can do you no harm. The world has its good points; you will find that out presently. Perhaps you may not like it, but some people do. In your case there is no saying. To-morrow I will tell you another story, but it shall be of the graver and sadder side of life. That story will also introduce the nobler side of life. But now the time has come for me to ask you a question, and I expect an answer. The time has come for me to ask a very straight question.—Verena, you are the eldest; I shall speak to you.”
“Yes?” said Verena.
She felt herself coloring. She said afterwards she knew exactly what was coming. Pauline must have known also, for she pinched Verena’s arm.
“Yes?” repeated the young girl.
“You are surprised at the story I have just related to you,” continued Miss Tredgold. “You think that the courtly grace, the sweet refinement, the elegant manners, the words that speak of due knowledge of life and men and women, represent a state of fetterdom; but you must also have felt their charm.”
“To a certain extent,” said Verena slowly, “what you have said excited me.”
“You feel it possible that, under certain circumstances, you, too, could belong to such a group?”
“Perhaps,” said Verena.
“There is not a doubt of it, my dear. A few years’ training, a little of that discipline which you call fetters, pretty manners, and suitable dress would make you quite the sort of girl who would appear amongst my cultivated friends in the garden by the River Thames. But now for my question: Could your friend, Nancy King, ever figure in such an assembly?”