my race. I
have done nothing for its advancement; but at the same time I have done
nothing to disgrace it. I have carried on the honors passively. The time
is coming when Darrell Court must pass into other hands. Now, Pauline,
you have heard, you know what the ruler of Darrell Court should be. Tell
me, are you fitted to take your place here?"

"I am very young," she murmured.

"It is not a question of youth. Dame Sibella Darrell reigned here when
she was only eighteen; and the sons she trained to succeed her were
among the greatest statesmen England has ever known. She improved and
enlarged the property; she died, after living here sixty years, beloved,
honored, and revered. It is not a question of age."

"I am a Darrell!" said the girl, proudly.

"Yes, you have the face and figure of a Darrell; you bear the name, too;
but you have not the grace and manner of a Darrell."

"Those are mere outward matters of polish and veneer," she said,
impatiently.

"Nay, not so. You would not think it right to see an unformed,
untrained, uneducated, ignorant girl at the head of such a house as
this. What did you do yesterday? A maid displeased you. You boxed her
ears. Just imagine it. Such a proceeding on the part of the mistress of
Darrell Court would fill one with horror."

A slight smile rippled over the full crimson lips.

"Queen Elizabeth boxed her courtiers' ears," said the girl, "and it
seemed right to her."

"A queen, Pauline, is hedged in by her own royalty; she may do what she
will. The very fact that you are capable of defending an action so
violent, so unlady-like, so opposed to all one's ideas of feminine
delicacy, proves that you are unfit for the position you ought to
occupy."

"I am honest, at least. I make no pretensions to be what I am not."

"So is my butler honest, but that does not fit him to be master of
Darrell Court. Honesty is but one quality--a good one, sturdy and
strong; it requires not one, but many qualities to hold such a position
as I would fain have you occupy."

Miss Darrell's patience was evidently at an end.

"And the upshot of all this, Sir Oswald, is----"

"Exactly so--that I am anxious to give you every chance in my
power--that I have found an estimable, refined, elegant woman, who will
devote her time and talents to train you and fit you for society."

A low, musical laugh broke from the perfect lips.

"Have you any idea," she asked, "what I shall be like when I am
trained?"