ould. Such things
have been done, my dear."

"Such a thing shall never be done by me, Duke."

They remained seated side by side, the one holding the other by the
hand, but without uttering another word, till Lady Glencora returned
bringing a cup of tea and a morsel of toast in her own hand. Madame
Goesler, as she took it, could not help thinking how it might have
been with her had she accepted the coronet which had been offered. In
that case she might have been a duchess herself, but assuredly she
would not have been waited upon by a future duchess. As it was, there
was no one in that family who had not cause to be grateful to her.
When the Duke had sipped a spoonful of his broth, and swallowed his
allowance of wine, they both left him, and the respectable old lady
with the smart cap was summoned back to her position. "I suppose he
whispered something very gracious to you," Lady Glencora said when
they were alone.

"Very gracious."

"And you were gracious to him,--I hope."

"I meant to be."

"I'm sure you did. Poor old man! If you had done what he asked you I
wonder whether his affection would have lasted as it has done."

"Certainly not, Lady Glen. He would have known that I had injured
him."

"I declare I think you are the wisest woman I ever met, Madame Max.
I am sure you are the most discreet. If I had always been as wise as
you are!"

"You always have been wise."

"Well,--never mind. Some people fall on their feet like cats; but you
are one of those who never fall at all. Others tumble about in the
most unfortunate way, without any great fault of their own. Think of
that poor Lady Laura."

"Yes, indeed."

"I suppose it's true about Mr. Kennedy. You've heard of it of course
in London." But as it happened Madame Goesler had not heard the
story. "I got it from Barrington Erle, who always writes to me if
anything happens. Mr. Kennedy has fired a pistol at the head of
Phineas Finn."

"At Phineas Finn!"

"Yes, indeed. Mr. Finn went to him at some hotel in London. No
one knows what it was about; but Mr. Kennedy went off in a fit of
jealousy, and fired a pistol at him."

"He did not hit him?"

"It seems not. Mr. Finn is one of those Irish gentlemen who always
seem to be under some special protection. The ball went through his
whiskers and didn't hurt him."

"And what has become of Mr. Kennedy?"

"Nothing, it seems. Nobody sent for the police, and he has been
allowed to go back to Scotland,--as t