"Upon my word, Miss Jeanne, it isn't so with every one," Lord Ronald
interposed hastily.

She glanced at him indifferently.

"There may be exceptions," she said. "I am speaking of the great
number."

"For Heaven's sake, child, don't be cynical!" the Princess remarked.
"There is no worse pose for a child of your age."

"It is not a pose at all," Jeanne answered calmly. "I do not want to
be cynical, and I do not want to have unkind thoughts. But tell me,
Lord Ronald, honestly, do you think that every one would have been
as kind to a girl just out of boarding-school as they have been to
me if it were not that I have so much money?"

"I cannot tell about others," Lord Ronald answered. "I can only
answer for myself."

His last words were almost whispered in the girl's ears, but she
only shrugged her shoulders and did not return his gaze. Their host,
who had been watching them, frowned slightly. He was beginning to
think that Engleton was scarcely as pleasant a fellow as he had
thought him.

"Well," he said, "Miss Le Mesurier will find out in time who are
really her friends."

"It is a safe plan," Major Forrest remarked, "and a pleasant one, to