His wife has been my sister's dearest friend almost as long; and, now that you are with them, you must be a dear friend too. You won't refuse the offer, will you?"
"Oh no," she said, quite in a whisper; and, indeed, she could hardly raise her voice above a whisper, fearing that tears would fall from her telltale eyes.
"Dr. and Mrs. Grantly will have gone in a couple of days, and then we must get you down here. Miss Grantly is to remain for Christmas, and you two must become bosom friends."
Lucy smiled, and tried to look pleased, but she felt that she and Griselda Grantly could never be bosom friends—could never have any thing in common between them. She felt sure that Griselda despised her, little, brown, plain, and unimportant as she was. She herself could not despise Griselda in turn; indeed, she could not but admire Miss Grantly's great beauty and dignity of demeanor, but she knew that she could never love her. It is hardly possible that the proud-hearted should love those who despise them, and Lucy Robarts was very proud-hearted.
"Don't you think she is very handsome?" said Lord Lufton.
"Oh, very," said Lucy. "Nobody can doubt that."
"Ludovic," said Lady Lufton, not quite approving of her son's remaining so long at the back of Lucy's chair, "won't you give us another song? Mrs. Robarts and Miss Grantly are still at the piano."
"I have sung away all that I knew, mother. There's Culpepper has not had a chance yet. He has got to give us his dream—how he 'dreamed that he dwelt in marble halls!'"
"I sang that an hour ago," said the captain, not over pleased.
"But you certainly have not told us how 'your little lovers came!'"
The captain, however, would not sing any more. And then the party was broken up, and the Robarts's went home to their parsonage.
