She had been
barely seventeen at that time, slim and undeveloped, and her delicacy had
added rather than otherwise to her look of extreme youth. Ann had regarded
her as hardly more than a child. But she knew that a year can effect an
enormous alteration in a girl in her late teens--sometimes seeming to
transform her all at once from immature girlhood into gracious and charming
womanhood. Lady Doreen had "come out" since Ann had met her, made her
curtsy at Court and taken part in her first London season, and it was
not difficult to imagine her, delicate though she might be, as extremely
attractive and invested with a certain ethereal grace and charm peculiarly
her own.
And that Tony had seen a good deal of her in town last July Ann was aware.
He had mentioned her name more than once during his visit to the Cottage,
and it seemed to Ann quite likely that, sore because of her own definite
refusal of him, he had sought and found consolation in the company of Lady
Doreen.
Looking back, she fancied she remembered a certain shy embarrassment in
Tony's manner when he had spoken of her. She had thought nothing about it
at the time, being preoccupied with her own affairs, but now, in the light
of this new idea which had presented itself to her, she felt convinced that
there was something behind the slight hesitation Tony had evinced when
referring to the Nevilles.
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