To watch above her conscientiously was a harassing business.
Mr. Beamish sent for Chloe, and she came to him at once. Her look was
curious; he studied it while they conversed. So looks one who is watching
the sure flight of an arrow, or the happy combinations of an intrigue.
Saying, 'I am no inquisitor, child,' he ventured upon two or three modest
inquisitions with regard to her mistress. The title he had disguised
Duchess Susan in, he confessed to rueing as the principal cause of the
agitation of his principality. 'She is courted,' he said, 'less like a
citadel waving a flag than a hostelry where the demand is for sitting
room and a tankard! These be our manners. Yet, I must own, a Duchess of
Dewlap is a provocation, and my exclusive desire to protect the name of
my lord stands corrected by the perils environing his lady. She is other
than I supposed her; she is, we will hope, an excellent good creature,
but too attractive for most and drawbridge and the customary defences to
be neglected.
Chloe met his interrogatory with a ready report of the young duchess's
innocence and good nature that pacified Mr.
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