"Oh, my lady, I never was so astonished in all my life!"
[CHAPTER XXIX.]
"You fool!" cried Lady Lancaster, in a rage. "Who cares whether you are astonished or not? Why don't you tell me what I sent you to find out?"
"What a spiteful old cat!" Elise said to herself, indignantly; but she answered, meekly enough:
"So I am going to tell you, my lady, directly. It's that girl from America—the housekeeper's niece."
Lady Lancaster bounded erect in her bed and regarded the maid for a moment in unfeigned dismay. She had utterly forgotten the existence of Mrs. West's niece, and it took several minutes of bewildered thought to recall her to her mind. When her memory had fully come back, she gasped out feebly:
"Do you say that that child—West's niece—is down in the drawing-room playing on the piano?"
"Yes, my lady, that was what I said," said Elise, who was almost as much astonished as her mistress.