"
"But you cannot--"
"But I wish to," answered Sabina, as if that settled the question.
"Have you always done what you wished?" asked the Baroness wisely.
"No, never. That is why I mean to begin at once. I am sure I can learn
to be a maid, or to make hats, or feed babies with bottles. Many girls
of eighteen can."
The Baroness shrugged her shoulders in a decidedly plebeian way.
Sabina's talk seemed very silly to her, no doubt, but she felt
slightly foolish herself just then. At close quarters and in the
relative intimacy that had grown up between them, the descendant of
all the Conti had turned out to be very different from what the
financier's wife had expected, and it was not easy to understand her.
Sometimes the girl talked like a woman of the world, and sometimes
like a child. Her character seemed to be a compound of cynicism and
simplicity, indifference and daring, gentleness, hardness and pride,
all wonderfully amalgamated under a perfectly self-possessed manner,
and pervaded by the most undeniable charm. It was no wonder that the
poor Baroness was as puzzled as a hen that has hatched a swan.
Sabina had behaved perfectly, so far; the Baroness admitted this, and
it had added considerably to her growing social importance to be
regarded as the girl's temporary guardian. Even royalty had expressed
its approval of her conduct and its appreciation of her generosity,
and it was one of the Baroness's chief ambitions to be noticed by
royalty.
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