"I should only be a handicap to Hilda," she interrupted.
Do you know, I thought that dear of her... It is the Lancashire "burr", is it not? She had that—not disagreeably, but it was there. And her directness, never rounding the edge of anything she said... The girl, you will find, has been polished without being made genteel. If you catch them young, a good school ... or a governess whose ear has been trained to detect and suppress those tell-tale oddities of speech... But you don't often find a mother with the wisdom to recognize that and keep herself out of sight...
"I don't know what to recommend," I said. "It would be no kindness to ask her to stay here. I am a dull old woman; there are no girls to keep her company; and my husband and I have long found that, in entertaining, it is useless to compete with those who think in pounds when we are forced to think in pennies."
"I should like Hilda to enjoy herself," said Mrs. Surdan. "If some one entertained on her behalf... I should like her to be given a ball, for instance... But, of course, it wouldn't be fair to ask you."
"It wouldn't be fair on Hilda," I said.
"May Hilda's parents not judge of that?," she asked.
A woman with a quite conquering smile... I wish you had met her.
It was really like a struggle not to be first through the door...
"If Hilda would care to come," I said at length, "as my guest..."
"I can never thank you enough," said Mrs. Surdan. "She is very tractable. Young, of course... And inexperienced about money..."