“Then there is nothing more, Lucy; you can assure me, on your word, that there is nothing more?”
Lucy was more surprised than ever.
“What should there be more?” she said.
Mrs. Stone laughed, and made no reply.
“So Lady Randolph was angry,” she said. “I don’t wonder; so was I. We all have the same feeling toward you, Lucy,” and here Mrs. Stone laughed again, evidently perceiving a humorous aspect of the question which was unknown to Lucy. “We are all so—fond of you, my dear. Did you see much of the Randolph family when you were there?”
“Only Sir Tom.”
“Only Sir Tom! that makes you smile. By the way, he is all the Randolph family, I believe: and he is nice, Lucy? I have met him, and I thought him very pleasant; but he has not a very good character, I am afraid. He has been what people call wild; but now that he is getting old, no doubt he is mending his ways.”
Mrs. Stone gave Lucy a keen glance of inquiry as she said this; but as a matter of fact, Lucy at eighteen honestly thought Sir Thomas old, and made no protest, which satisfied her friend. She said, after a pause,
“Now I have a pleasant surprise to give you. Katie Russell is here; I am looking for a situation for her. She has finished her education, and I wish to place her in a thoroughly nice family.”
“Oh,” cried Lucy, with pained surprise, “I thought that Mrs. Russell— I thought that now they were all to be at home.”