but to her eyes many tears, through which the pearls were
visible. They whirled in her bewildered brain as a token that she was
loved--loved by HIM, though but yesterday he had loved another. It was
all so sudden, so beautiful. You might have knocked her down (she says
so to this day) with a feather. Seeing her agitation, the Duke pointed
to a chair, bade her be seated.

Her mind was cleared by the new posture. Suspicion crept into it,
followed by alarm. She looked at the ear-rings, then up at the Duke.

"No," said he, misinterpreting the question in her eyes, "they are real
pearls."

"It isn't that," she quavered, "it is--it is--"

"That they were given to me by Miss Dobson?"

"Oh, they were, were they? Then"--Katie rose, throwing the pearls on the
floor--"I'll have nothing to do with them. I hate her."

"So do I," said the Duke, in a burst of confidence. "No, I don't," he
added hastily. "Please forget that I said that."

It occurred to Katie that Miss Dobson would be ill-pleased that the
pearls should pass to her. She picked them up.

"Only--only--" again her doubts beset her and she looked from the pearls
to the Duke.

"Speak on," he said.

"Oh you aren't playing with me, are you? You don't mean me harm, do you?
I have been well brought up. I have been warned against things. And it
seems so strange, what you have said to me. You are a Duke, and I--I am
only--"

"It is the privilege of nobility to condescend."

"Yes, yes," she cried. "I see. Oh I was wicked to doubt you. And love
levels all, doesn't it? love and the Board school. Our stations are far
apart, but I've been educated far above mine. I've learnt more than most
real ladies have. I passed the Seventh Standard when I was only just
fourteen. I was considered one of the sharpest girls in the school. And
I've gone on learning since then," she continued eagerly. "I utilise all
my spare moments. I've read twenty-seven of the Hundred Best Books. I
collect ferns. I play the piano, whenever..." She broke off, for she
remembered that her music was always interrupted by the ringing of the
Duke's bell and a polite request that it should cease.

"I am glad to hear of these accomplishments. They do you great credit, I
am sure. But--well, I do not quite see why you enumerate them just now."

"It isn't that I am vain," she pleaded. "I only mentioned them because
... oh, don't you see? If I'm not ignorant, I shan't disgrace you.
People won't be so able to s