And with a short sigh she let go her train of thought and left the
verandah,--it was time to change her costume and prepare "effects"
to dazzle and bewilder the uncertain mind of a crafty old Croesus
who, having freely enjoyed himself as a bachelor up to his present
age of seventy-four, was now looking about for a young strong woman
to manage his house and be a nurse and attendant for him in his
declining years, for which service, should she be suitable, he would
concede to her the name of "wife" in order to give stability to her
position. And Lydia Herbert herself was privately quite aware of his
views. Moreover she was entirely willing to accommodate herself to
them for the sake of riches and a luxurious life, and the
"settlement" she meant to insist upon if her plans ripened to
fulfilment. She had no great ambitions; few women of her social
class have. To be well housed, well fed and well clothed, and
enabled to do the fashionable round without hindrance--this was all
she sought, and of romance, sentiment, emotion or idealism she had
none. Now and again she caught the flash of a thought in her brain
higher than the level of material needs, but dismissed it more
quickly than it came as--"Ridiculous! Absolute nonsense! Like
Morgana!"

And to be like Morgana, meant to be like what cynics designate "an
impossible woman,"--independent of opinions and therefore "not
understood of the people."




CHAPTER IV