'She seems to do so . . . You see, dearest Philippa, the advantage
to Dorothy would have been that the Countess would have adopted her
legally, and have made her as her own daughter; while we have not
done that--we are only bringing up and educating a poor child in
charity.'
'But I'll adopt her fully--make her mine legally!' cried his wife in
an anxious voice. 'How is it to be done?'
'H'm.' He did not inform her, but fell into thought; and, for
reasons of her own, his lady was restless and uneasy.
The very next day Lady Mottisfont drove to Fernell Hall to pay the
neglected call upon her neighbour. The Countess was at home, and
received her graciously. But poor Lady Mottisfont's heart died
within her as soon as she set eyes on her new acquaintance. Such
wonderful beauty, of the fully-developed kind, had never confronted
her before inside the lines of a human face. She seemed to shine
with every light and grace that woman can possess. Her finished
Continental manners, her expanded mind, her ready wit, composed a
study that made the other poor lady sick; for she, and latterly Sir
Ashley himself, were rather rural in manners, and she felt abashed
by new sounds and ideas from without. She hardly knew three words
in any language but her own, while this divine creature, though
truly English, had, apparently, whatever she wanted in the Italian
and French tongues to suit every impression; which was considered a
great improvement to speech in those days, and, indeed, is by many
considered as such in these.
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