"The circumstances under which my niece Isabel has left Lady Lydiard's
house," Miss Pink proceeded, "are so indescribably painful--I will go
further, I will say so deeply humiliating--that I have forbidden her to
refer to them again in my presence, or to mention them in the future
to any living creature besides myself. You are acquainted with those
circumstances, Mr. Troy; and you will understand my indignation when I
first learnt that my sister's child had been suspected of theft. I
have not the honor of being acquainted with Lady Lydiard. She is not
a Countess, I believe? Just so! Her husband was only a Baron. I am not
acquainted with Lady Lydiard; and I will not trust myself to say what I
think of her conduct to my niece."
"Pardon me, madam," Mr. Troy interposed. "Before you say any more about
Lady Lydiard, I really must beg leave to observe--"
"Pardon _me_," Miss Pink rejoined. "I never form a hasty judgment. Lady
Lydiard's conduct is beyond the reach of any defense, no matter how
ingenious it may be. You may not be aware, sir, that in receiving my
niece under her roof her Ladyship was receiving a gentlewoman by birth
as well as by education. My late lamented sister was the daughter of a
clergyman of the Church of England. I need hardly remind you that,
as such, she was a born lady. Under favoring circumstances, Isabel's
maternal grandfather might have been Archbishop of Canterbury, and have
taken precedence of the whole House of Peers, the Princes of the blood
Royal alone excepted.
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