"She may
scandalize half the world," he said to himself, stubbornly--"I shall
understand her!"
But his mother?--his friends?--his colleagues? He knew well his mother's
ambitions for him, and the place that he held in her heart. Could he
without cruelty impose upon her such a daughter as Kitty Bristol?
Well!--his mother had a very large experience of life, and much natural
independence of mind. He trusted her to see the promise in this untamed
and gifted creature; he counted on the sense of power that Lady Tranmore
possessed, and which would but find new scope in the taming of Kitty.
But Kitty's mother? Kitty must, of course, be rescued from Madame
d'Estrees--must find a new and truer mother in Lady Tranmore. But money
would do it; and money must be lavished.
Then, almost for the first time, Ashe felt a conscious delight in wealth
and birth.
Panache? He could give it her--the little, wild, lovely
thing! Luxury, society, adoration--all should be hers. She should be so
loved and cherished, she must needs love in turn.
His dreams were delicious; and the sudden fear into which he fell at the
end lest after all Kitty should mock and turn from him, was only in
truth another pleasure.
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