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Thirty. Miss Viner gives judgment.
Catherine looked out of Miss Viner's bedroom window.

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It was raining, not violently,
but with a quiet, well bred

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persistence. The window looked out on
a strip of front garden with a path

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down to the gate and neat little
flower beds on either side, where later

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roses and pinks and blue hyacinths would
bloom. Miss Viner was lying in a

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large Victorian bedstead. A tray with
the remains of breakfast had been pushed to

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one side, and she was busy
opening her correspondence and making various caustic comments

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upon it. Catherine had an open
letter in her hand and was reading it

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through for the second time. It
was dated from the Ritz Hotel Paris Cher

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Mademoiselle Catherine. It began, I
trust that you are in good health,

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and that the return to the English
winter has not proved too depressing me.

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I prosecute my inquiries with the utmost
diligence. Do not think that it is

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the holiday that I take here.
Very shortly I shall be in England,

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and I hope then to have the
pleasure of meeting you once more. It

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shall be so, shall it not? On arrival in London, I shall

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write to you. You remember that
we are the colleagues in this affair.

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But indeed I think you know that
very well. Be assured, Mademoiselle,

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of my most respectful and devoted sentiments, Hercule Poirot. Catherine frowned slightly.

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It was as though something in the
letter puzzled and intrigued her. A choir

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boy's picnic indeed came from Miss Vinner. Tommy Saunders and Albert Dykes ought to

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be left behind. And I shan't
subscribe to it unless they are what those

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two boys think they are doing in
church on Sundays. I don't know Tommy

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saying, oh God, make speed
to save us, and never opened his

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lips again. And if Albert Dykes
wasn't sucking a mint humbug, my nose

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is not what it is and always
has been. I know they are awful,

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agreed Catherine. She opened her second
letter and a sudden flush came to

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her cheeks. Miss Viner's voice in
the room seemed to recede into the far

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distance. When she came back to
a sense of her surroundings, Miss Viner

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was bringing a long speech to a
triumphant termination, and I said to her,

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not at all. As it happens, Miss Gray is Lady Tamplin's own

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cousin. What do you think of
that? Were you fighting my battles for

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me? That was very sweet of
you. You can put it that way

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if you like. There is nothing
to me in a title vicar's wife or

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no vicar's wife. That woman is
a cat hinting you had bought your way

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into society. Perhaps she was not
so very far wrong. And look at

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you, continued Miss Viner, have
you come back a stuck up lady as

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well you might have done? Know
there you are as sensible as ever you

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were, with a pair of good
Balbriggan stockings on and sensible shoes. I

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spoke to Ellen about it only yesterday. Ellen, I said, you look

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at miss Gray. She has been
hobnobbing with some of the greatest in the

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land. And does she go about
as you do with skirts up to her

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knees and silk stockings that latter when
you look at them, and the most

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ridiculous shoes that ever I set eyes
on. Catherine smiled a little to herself.

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It had apparently been worth while to
conform to Miss Venar's prejudices. The

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old lady went on with increasing GUSTO. It has been a great relief to

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me that you have not had your
head turned. Only the other day I

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was looking for my cuttings. I
have several about Lady Tamplin and her war

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hospital and what not, but I
cannot lay my hand upon them. I

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wish you would look, my dear, your eyesight is better than mine.

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They are all in a box in
the bureau drawer. Catherine glanced down at

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the letter in her hand and was
about to speak, but checked herself,

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and going over to the bureau,
found the box of cuttings and began to

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look over them. Since her return
to Saint Mary Meade, her heart had

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gone out to Miss Viner in admiration
of the old woman's stoicism and pluck.

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She felt that there was little she
could do for her old friend, but

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she knew from experience how much those
seemingly small trifles meant to old people.

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Here is one, she said,
presently, Viscountess Tamplin, who is running

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her villa at Nice as an officer's
hospital, has just been the victim of

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a sensational robbery, her jewels having
been stolen. Amongst them were some very

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famous emeralds, heirlooms of the Tamplin
family. Probably paste, said Miss Viner.

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A lot of these society women's jewels
are. Here is another, said

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Catherine, A picture of her,
A charming camera study of Viscountess Tamplin with

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her little daughter Lennox. Let me
look, said Miss Vyner. You can't

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see much of the child's face,
can you? But I dare say that

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is just as well. Things go
by contraries in this world, and beautiful

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mothers have hideous children. I dare
say the photographer realized that to take the

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back of the child's head was the
best thing he could do for her,

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Catherine laughed. One of the smartest
hostesses on the Riviera this season is Viscountess

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Tamplin, who has a villa at
Cap Martin. Her cousin, Miss Gray,

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who recently inherited a vast fortune in
a most romantic manner, is staying

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with her. There. That is
the one I wanted, said Miss Viner.

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I expect there has been a picture
of you in one of the papers

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that I have missed. You know
the kind of thing, missus. Somebody

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or other Jones Williams at the something
or other point to point, usually carrying

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a shooting stick and having one foot
lifted up in the air. It must

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be a trial to some of them
to see what they look like. Catherine

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did not answer. She was smoothing
out the cutting with her finger, and

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her face had a puzzled, worried
look. Then she drew the second letter

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out of its envelope and mastered its
contents once more. She turned to her

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friend, Miss Viner. I wonder
there is a friend of mine, someone

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I met on the riviera who wants
very much to come down and see me

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here a man, said Miss Viner. Yes, who is he? He

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is secretary to mister van Alden,
the American millionaire. What is his name?

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Knighton, Major Knighton hum secretary to
a millionaire and wants to come down

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here. Now, Catherine, I
am going to say something to you for

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your own good. You are a
nice girl and a sensible girl, and

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though you have your head screwed on
the right way about most things, every

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woman makes a fool of herself once
in her life. Ten to one.

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What this man is after is your
money. With a gesture, she arrested

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Catherine's reply, I have been waiting
for something of this kind. What is

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a secretary to a millionaire? Nine
times out of ten it is a young

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man who likes living soft, a
young man with nice manners and a taste

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for luxury, and no brains and
no enterprise. And if there is anything

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that is a softer job than being
a secretary to a millionaire, it is

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marrying a rich woman for her money. I am not saying that you might

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not be some man's fancy, but
you are not young, and though you

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have a very good complexion, you
are not a beauty. And what I

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say to you is, don't make
a fool of yourself. But if you

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are determined to do so, do
see that your money is properly tied up

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on yourself. There Now, I
have finished. What have you got to

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say? Nothing, said Catherine.
But would you mind if he did come

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to see me? I wash my
hands of it, said miss Viner.

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I have done my duty, and
whatever happens now is on your own head.

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Would you like him to lunch or
to dinner? I dare say Ellen

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could manage dinner, that is,
if she didn't lose her head. Lunch

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would be very nice, said Katherine. It is awfully kind of you,

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Miss Viner. He asked me to
ring him up, So I will do

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so, and say that we shall
be pleased if he will lunch with us.

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He will motor down from town.
Ellen does a steak with grilled tomatoes

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pretty fairly, said Miss Viner.
She doesn't do it well, but she

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does it better than anything else.
It is no good having a tart because

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she is heavy handed with pastry.
But her little castle puddings are not bad.

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And I dare say you could find
a nice piece of stilton at Abbots.

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I have always heard that gentlemen like
a nice piece of stilton. And

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there is a good deal of Father's
wine left a bottle of sparkling Moselle perhaps,

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Oh no, miss Viner, that
is really not necessary. Nonsense,

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my child. No gentleman is happy
unless he drinks something with his meal.

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There is some good pre war whiskey
if you think he would prefer that.

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Now, do as I say,
and don't argue. The key of the

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wine cellar is in the third drawer
down in the dressing table, in the

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second pair of stockings on the left
hand side. Catherine went obediently to the

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spot indicated the second pair. Now, mind, said miss Viner. The

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first pair has my diamond ear rings
and my filigree brooch in it, Oh,

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said Catherine, rather taken aback,
wouldn't you like them put in your

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jewel case? Miss Viner gave vent
to a terrific and prolonged snort. No,

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indeed, I have much too much
sense for that sort of thing,

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thank you, dear, dear.
I Well remember how my poor father had

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a safe built in downstairs. Pleased
as punch he was with it, and

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he said to my mother, now, Mary, you bring me your jewels

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in their case every night, and
I will lock them away for you.

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My mother was a very tactful woman, and she knew that gentlemen like having

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their own way, and she brought
him the jewel case, locked up just

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as he said. And one night
burglars broke in, and of course,

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naturally the first thing they went for
was the safe. It would be with

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my father talking up and down the
village and bragging about it, until you

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might have thought he kept all King
Solomon's diamonds there. They made a clean

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sweep, got the tankards, the
silver cups, and the presentation gold plate

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that my father had had presented to
him, and the jewel case, she

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sighed reminiscently. My father was in
a great state over my mother's jewels.

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There was the Venetian set, and
some very fine cameos, and some pale

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pink corals, and two diamond rings
with quite large stones in them. And

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then of course she had to tell
him that, being a sensible woman,

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she had kept her jewelry rolled up
in a pair of corsets, and there

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it was still as safe as anything. And the jewel case had been quite

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empty. Oh no, dear,
said miss Vinner, it would have been

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too light a weight. Then my
mother was a very intelligent woman. She

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saw to that she kept her buttons
in the jewel case, and a very

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handy place. It was boot buttons
in the top tray, trouser buttons in

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the second tray, and assorted buttons
below. Curiously enough, my father was

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quite annoyed with her. He said
he didn't like deceit. But I mustn't

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go chattering on. You want to
go and ring up your friend, and

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mind you choose a nice piece of
steak and tell Ellen she is not to

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have holes in her stockings when she
waits at lunch? Is her name Ellen

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or Helen? Miss Viner, I
thought, Miss Viner closed her eyes.

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I can sound my h's dear as
well as any one, but Helen is

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not a suitable name for a servant. I don't know what the mothers in

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the lower classes are coming to nowadays. The rain had cleared away when Knighton

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arrived at the cottage. The pale, fitful sunshine shone down on it and

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burnished Catherine's head as she stood in
the doorway to welcome him. He came

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up to her quickly, almost boyishly. I say, I hope you don't

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mind. I simply had to say
see you again soon. I hope the

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friend you are staying with does not
mind. Come in and make friends with

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her, said Catherine. She can
be most alarming, but you will soon

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find that she has the softest heart
in the world. Miss Viner was enthroned

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majestically in the drawing room, wearing
a complete set of the cameos which had

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been so providentially preserved in the family. She greeted Knighton with dignity and an

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austere politeness which would have damped many
men. Knighton, however, had a

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charm of manner which was not easily
set aside, and after about ten minutes

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Miss Viner thawed perceptibly. Luncheon was
a merry meal, and Ellen or Helen,

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in a new pair of silk stockings, devoid of ladders, performed prodigies

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of waiting. Afterwards, Catherine and
Knighton went for a walk, and they

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came back to have tea tete a
tete, since Miss Viner had gone to

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lie down when the car had finally
driven off, Catherine went slowly upstairs.

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A voice called her, and she
went into miss Viner's bedroom. Friend gone,

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yes, thank you so much for
letting me ask him down. No

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need to thank me. Do you
think I am the sort of old curmudgeon

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who never will do anything for anybody. I think you are a dear,

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said Catherine affectionately. Humph, said
miss Viner, mollified. As Catherine was

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leaving the room, she called her
back, Catherine, Yes, I was

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wrong about that young man of yours. A man, when he is making

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up to anybody can be cordial and
gallant and full of little attentions and altogether

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charming. But when a man is
really in love, he can't help looking

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like a sheep. Now, whenever
that young man looked at you. He

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looked like a sheep. I take
back all I said this morning. It is genuine