And you will very greatly oblige me if you will mention, wherever you can, that you know, on the very best authority, that the match will be one of pure affection—on both sides; mind, on both sides."

"I will certainly say so, if you wish," replied Lady Despard. "I think, however, that you ought to know, Duchess, something of what people say—no, not common people, but people whose opinions even you are bound to consider."

"Go on," said the Duchess frowning.

"They say that Lord Chester is so proud of his hereditary title and his rank that he would be broken-hearted to see it merged in any higher title; that he is too rich and too highly placed to be tempted by any of the ordinary baits by which men are caught; that you can give him nothing which he cannot buy for himself; and, lastly, that he is already in love,—even that words of affection have been passed between him and the Countess of Carlyon."

Here the Duchess interrupted, vehemently banging the floor with the crutch which stood at her right hand.

"Lord Chester in love? What nonsense is this, Julia? A young nobleman of his rank—almost my rank—in love! Are you mad, Julia? Are you softening in the brain? Are you aware that the boy has been properly brought up? Will you be good enough to remember that Lady Boltons is beyond all suspicion, and that he could never have seen Lady Carlyon alone since he was a boy?"

"I answer your questions by one or two others," replied her friend calmly. "Are you, Duchess, aware that these two young people have had constant opportunities of being alone everywhere—coming from church, going to church, in conservatories, at morning parties, at dances, in gardens? Lady Boltons is all discretion; but still—but still—girls will be girls—boys love to flirt. My dear Duchess, we are still young enough to remember—"

The Duchess smiled: the Duchess laughed. Good humour returned.

"What else, Julia? You are a retailer of horrid gossip."

"This besides. On the very morning when he waited on the Chancellor, he rode to Lady Carlyon's—"

"I know the exact particulars," said the Duchess. "Lady Boltons wrote to me on the subject to prevent misunderstanding. Professor Ingleby, his old tutor, was there. He rode there alone because his guardian could not go with him. Of course he was properly attended. Lady Carlyon is his second cousin. Properly speaking, perhaps he should have remained at home until the Professor came to him. But a man of Lord Chester's rank may do things which smaller men cannot. And, besides, this impulsiveness—this apparent impatience of conventional restraint—seems to me only to prove the pride and dignity of his character. Is that all, Julia? Have you any more hearsays?"

They were brave words; but the Duchess felt uneasy.

"I have; there is more behind, and worse. Still, in your present mood, I do not know that I ought to say what I should wish to say."

"Say on, Julia. You know that I wish to hear all. Perhaps there may be something after all. Hide nothing from me."

"Very good. They say that Lord Chester is, of all men, the least submissive, the least docile, the least manly—in the highest sense of the word. He habitually assumes authority which belongs to Us; he flies into violent rages; he horsewhips stable-boys; he presumptuously defies orders; he almost openly derides the laws which regulate man's obedience. He questions—-he actually questions—the fundamental principles on which society and government are based."

"Quite as it should be," said the Duchess, folding her hands. "I want my husband to obey no one in the world—except myself: he shall accept no teaching, except mine; no doctrine shall be sacred in his eyes—until it has received my authority."

"Would you like the Duke of Dunstanburgh to horsewhip stable-boys?"

The Duchess shrugged her shoulders.

"Why not? No doubt the stable-boys deserve it. We cannot, of course, allow common men to use their strength in this way. But, my dear, in men of very high rank we should encourage—-within proper limits—a masterfulness which is, after all, nothing but the legitimate expression of legitimate pride. What is crime in a clown or an artisan, is a virtue in Lord Chester; and, believe me, Julia, for my own part, I know how to tame the most obstinate of men."

She folded her hands and set her teeth together. Julia thought of the late three dukes, and trembled.

"No one should know better, dear Duchess. There remains one thing only. You tell me that the proposed match is to be one of pure affection—on both sides. I am truly rejoiced to hear it.