The girl did not know the extent of her employer's consideration
for her, but she knew that she was kind with a special grace
and comprehension. A subtle truth she also did not recognize was
that the remote flame of her own being was fiercely alert in its
readiness to leap upward at any suspicion that her duties were
not worth the payment made for them and that for any reason which
might include Lord Coombe she was occupying a position which was
a sinecure. She kept her serious little room in order herself,
dusting and almost polishing the reference books, arranging and
re-arranging the files with such exactness of system that she
could--as is the vaunt of the model of orderly perfection--lay her
hand upon any document "in the dark." She was punctuality's self
and held herself in readiness at any moment to appear at the
Duchess' side as if a magician had instantaneously transported her
there before the softly melodious private bell connected with her
room had ceased to vibrate. The correctness of her to deference
to the convenience of Mrs. James the housekeeper in her simplest
communication with Dowie quite touched that respectable person's
heart.
"She's a young lady," Mrs. James remarked to Dowie. "And a credit
to you and her governess, Mrs. Dowson. Young ladies have gone
almost out of fashion."
"Mademoiselle Valle had spent her governessing days among the
highest.
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