been at the court before.

The suite of rooms when Pollyooly had last occupied it, had consisted
of her bedroom and school-room, and the bedroom and the sitting-room of
the governess. To these the duke had added a nursery bedroom for the
Lump and a bedroom for his nurse.

In the schoolroom they found Miss Belthorp awaiting them; and the duke
presented her to Pollyooly. Then with the air of an operating
Camorrist he showed Pollyooly which was her bedroom by the crafty
device of pretending to make sure that her sheets had been aired.

Pollyooly at once demanded that the Lump should also sleep in it. It
seemed a very natural desire on the part of a little girl; and, much to
the disgust of Emily Gibbs, who wished to have him to herself as much
as possible, the duke ordered a cot to be brought into it.

Then with the same Machiavellian air, he said to Miss Belthorp:

"Lady Marion has taken a strong fancy to this little boy I'm adopting.
I hope it will last."

"It's sure to, your Grace. He's such a dear little boy," said Miss
Belthorp with conviction, for she, too, had fallen a victim to the
silent charm of the Lump.

Having done his best to secure the first success of his plan, the duke
left them. Pollyooly made haste to have their trunk unpacked; and
then, having put on a linen frock, while Emily Gibbs put one on the
Lump, she took him out into the gardens. Miss Belthorp accompanied
them; and it seemed to Pollyooly that she was uncommonly like Miss
Marlow, Lady Marion's earlier governess, whom she had found at the
court during her last stay there. She realised very soon that it was
really unnecessary to listen to her conversation; the chance of her
saying anything of any real interest being so very small.

From the windows of the smoking-room the duke saw the two children
crossing the terrace, accompanied by a large proportion of the dogs of
the establishment. In his glowing self-satisfaction with the success
of the first part of his plan, he found that they greatly improved the
appearance of the gardens.

The Lump approved greatly of the gardens; but he was a little doubtful
about the dogs, and kept a firm hold of Pollyooly's skirts. It was
nearly ten minutes before, encouraged by the very friendly way in which
Pollyooly treated them, he really unbent. He showed a truly marvellous
instinct for discovering which dog would let him pull his tail, and
which would not.

Pollyooly thought it wise to relax