"Yes," he said, "I am a millionaire a good many times over, or I should
not be of much account in New York. But there, I have told you enough
about myself. I sent for you, as you know, because there are times when
I feel a little lonely, and I thought that if my sister could spare one
of her children, it would be a kindly act, and one which I might perhaps
be able to repay. Do you think that you would like to live here with
me, Virginia, and be mistress of this house?"

She shrank a little away. The prospect was not without its terrifying
side.

"Why, I should love it," she declared, "but I simply shouldn't dare to
think of it. You don't understand, I am afraid, the way we live down at
Wellham Springs. We have really no servants, and we do everything
ourselves. I couldn't attempt to manage a house like this."

He smiled at her kindly.

"Perhaps," he said, "you would find it less difficult than you think.
There is a housekeeper already, who sees to all the practical part of
it. She only needs to have some one to whom she can refer now and then.
You would have nothing whatever to do with the managing of the servants,
the commissariat, or anything of that sort. Yours would be purely
social duties."

"I am afraid," she answered, "that I should know even less about them."

"Well," he said, "I have some good friends who will give you hints. You
will find it very much easier than you imagine. You have only to be
natural, acquire the art of listening, and wear pretty gowns, and you