then," answered the Countess, as if
she had given an excellent reason for doing so.

"Is it not rather early, considering that we have only met him once?"
Cecilia ventured to ask.

"I used to know his mother very well, though she was older than I. It is
pleasant to find that he is so intimate with Signor d'Este. We might ask
them together."

"After the garden party," suggested Cecilia. "Of course, as you and the
Marchesa were great friends, that is a reason for asking the other, but
Signor d'Este--really! It would positively be throwing me at his head,
mother!"

"He expects it, my dear," answered the Countess, with more precision
than tact. "I mean," she added hastily, "I mean, that is, I did not
mean----"

Cecilia laughed.

"Oh yes, you did, mother! You meant exactly that, you know. You and that
dreadful old Princess have made up your minds that I am to marry him,
and nothing else matters, does it?"

"Well," said the Countess, without any perceptible hesitation, "I cannot
help hoping that you will consent, for I should like the match very
much."

She knew that it was always better to be quite frank with her daughter;
and even if she had thought otherwise, she could never have succeeded in
being diplomatic with her. While her second husband had been alive, her
position as an ambassadress had obliged her to be tactful in the world,
and even occasionally to say things which she had some difficulty in
believing, being a very simple soul; but with Cecilia she was quite
unable to conceal her thoughts for five minutes. If the girl loved her
mother, and she really did, it was largely because her mother was so
perfectly truthful. Cynical people called her helplessly honest, and
said that her veracity would have amounted to a disease of the mind if
she had possessed any; but that since she did not, it was probably a
form of degeneration, because all perfectly healthy human beings lied
naturally. David had said in his heart that all men were liars, and his
experience of men, and of women, too, was worth considering.

"Yes," Cecilia said, after a thoughtful pause, "I know that you wish me
to marry Signor d'Este, and I have not refused to think of it. But I
have not promised anything, either, and I do not like to feel that he
expects me to be thrust upon him at every turn, till he is obliged to
offer himself as the only way of escaping the persecution."

"I wish you would not express it in that way!"

The Countess s