The Duke seated himself in a comfortable chair and after a moment the Duchess said,
“As you asked me, Kerne dearest, I have made a list for you. It is not a very long one.”
She drew out from a silk bag beside her a piece of paper, but, as she held it out to him, the Duke said,
“There is no need for me to read it. Invite the girls, if you think they are any good, to stay at Ollerton in three weeks from now. I will give a party at which, Mama, you will preside and, although it will be a crashing bore, I suppose I must do my duty.”
“We shall have to ask their fathers and mothers,” the Duchess commented.
“Of course,” the Duke agreed, “and I will include a few friends of my own to cheer up what will undoubtedly be a laborious few days of utter boredom.”
The Duchess drew in her breath.
“I
