"If you—what? Go on, my lord—let me hear what wonderful thought was prefaced by that 'if.'"
"Only this—if I were master in my own house instead of a guest, it should be otherwise. My friend should not be insulted."
"You would bring that creature into the drawing-room to receive his addresses?" she hissed.
"Yes," he replied.
"Then you will not do so while I am the mistress of Lancaster. If he chooses to have such low tastes, it is not for me to indulge him in them. If he must woo the housekeeper's niece, he may woo her in her proper place," cried Lady Lancaster, indignant at his defense of his friend's misplaced admiration, and secretly jealous of the beautiful girl's influence.
What if Lancaster, too, had been bewitched by that fair, piquant face and luring smile?
A sudden thought came to her.
After all, perhaps, it were best for her plans that De Vere should have his way. Who could tell what folly might get into Lancaster's head?
She looked at him thoughtfully.
"Perhaps I was hasty," she said. "But I had a shock to-day when I first saw the girl, and—she was very impertinent to me. Is it your wish, Clive, that I should put no obstacle in the way of Lieutenant De Vere's designs?"