Lady Chiltern had met her
before, and as Lady Chiltern was always generous, she was gracious
to Arabella. She was sorry to see Lady Drummond, because she
connected Lady Drummond with the Foreign Office and feared that the
conversation might be led to Patagonia and its new minister. She
contrived to squeeze her uncle's hand and to utter a word of warm
thanks,--which his grace did not perfectly understand. The girl was
his niece and the Duke had an idea that he should be kind to the
family of which he was the head. His brother's wife had become
objectionable to him, but as to the girl, if she wanted a home for
a week or two, he thought it to be his duty to give it to her.
Mistletoe is an enormous house with a frontage nearly a quarter of
a mile long, combining as it does all the offices, coach houses,
and stables. There is nothing in England more ugly or perhaps more
comfortable. It stands in a huge park which, as it is quite flat,
never shows its size and is altogether unattractive. The Duke
himself was a hospitable, easy man who was very fond of his dinner
and performed his duties well; but could never be touched by any
sentiment. He always spent six months in the country, in which he
acted as landlord to a great crowd of shooting, hunting, and
flirting visitors, and six in London, in which he gave dinners and
dined out and regularly took his place in the House of Lords
without ever opening his mouth.
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