Poor girl! I did her great injustice; she has no thought of captivating
the old man, but amuses him from simple kindness. She is tired. I'll put
an end to her task; and Coventry entered without knocking.
Sir John received him with an air of polite resignation, Miss Muir with
a perfectly expressionless face.
"Mother's love, and how are you today, sir?"
"Comfortable, but dull, so I want you to bring the girls over this
evening, to amuse the old gentleman. Mrs. King has got out the
antique costumes and trumpery, as I promised Bella she should have
them, and tonight we are to have a merrymaking, as we used to do when
Ned was here."
"Very well, sir, I'll bring them. We've all been out of sorts since the
lad left, and a little jollity will do us good. Are you going back, Miss
Muir?" asked Coventry.
"No, I shall keep her to give me my tea and get things ready. Don't read
anymore, my dear, but go and amuse yourself with the pictures, or
whatever you like," said Sir John; and like a dutiful daughter she
obeyed, as if glad to get away.
"That's a very charming girl, Gerald," began Sir John as she left the
room. "I'm much interested in her, both on her own account and on her
mother's."
"Her mother's! What do you know of her mother?" asked Coventry, much
surprised.
"Her mother was Lady Grace Howard, who ran away with a poor Scotch
minister twenty years ago. The family cast her off, and she lived and
died so obscurely that very little is known of her except that she left
an orphan girl at some small French pension. This is the girl, and a
fine girl, too. I'm surprised that you did not know this."
"So am I, but it is like her not to tell. She is a strange, proud
creature. Lady Howard's daughter! Upon my word, that is a discovery,"
and Coventry felt his interest in his sister's governess much increased
by this fact; for, like all wellborn Englishmen, he valued rank and
gentle blood even more than he cared to own.
"She has had a hard life of it, this poor little girl, but she has a
brave spirit, and will make her way anywhere," said Sir John admiringly.
"Did Ned know this?" asked Gerald suddenly.
"No, she only told me yesterday. I was looking in the Peerage and
chanced to speak of the Howards. She forgot herself and called Lady
Grace her mother. Then I got the whole story, for the lonely little
thing was glad to make a confidant of someone."
"That accounts for her rejection of Sydney and Ned: she knows she is
their equal and will not snatch at the rank which is hers by right. No,
she's not mercenary or ambitious."