* * * * * * * * * * * *
Lady Charteris and her daughter left Florence and returned to
Greenoke. Lady Earle paid them a long visit, and heard all they
had to tell of her idolized son. Lady Charteris spoke kindly of
Dora; and Valentine, believing she could do something to restore
peace, sent an affectionate greeting, and asked permission to
visit the Elms.
Lady Earle saw she had made a mistake when she repeated
Valentine's words to Dora. The young wife's face flushed burning
red, and then grew white as death.
"Pray bring me no more messages from Miss Charteris," she
replied. "I do not like her--she would only come to triumph
over me; I decline to see her. I have no message to send her."
Then, for the first time, an inkling of the truth came to Lady
Earle. Evidently Dora was bitterly jealous of Valentine. Had
she any cause for it? Could it be that her unhappy son had
learned to love Miss Charteris when it was all too late? From
that day Lady Earle pitied her son with a deeper and more tender
compassion; she translated Dora's curt words into civil English,
and then wrote to Miss Charteris.
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