And before
she went to bed that night Feather came and gave her farewell
maternal advice and warning.
CHAPTER XXVIII
That a previously scarcely suspected daughter of Mrs. Gareth-Lawless
had become a member of the household of the Dowager Duchess of
Darte stirred but a passing wave of interest in a circle which was
not that of Mrs. Gareth-Lawless herself and which upon the whole
but casually acknowledged its curious existence as a modern
abnormality. Also the attitude of the Duchess herself was composedly
free from any admission of necessity for comment.
"I have no pretty young relative who can be spared to come and
live with me. I am fond of things pretty and young and I am greatly
pleased with what a kind chance put in my way," she said. In her
discussion of the situation with Coombe she measured it with her
customary fine acumen.
"Forty years ago it could not have been done. The girl would have
been made uncomfortable and outside things could not have been
prevented from dragging themselves in. Filial piety in the mass
would have demanded that the mother should be accounted for. Now
a genial knowledge of a variety in mothers leaves Mrs. Gareth-Lawless
to play about with her own probably quite amusing set. Once poor
Robin would have been held responsible for her and so should I. My
position would have seemed to defy serious moral issues.
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