She had shown a good deal of tact, too, for she was woman
enough to guess what the girl must feel, and how hard it must be to
accept so much without any prospect of being able to make a return. So
far, however, matters had gone very well, and she had really begun to
look forward to the glory of presenting Sabina in society during the
following winter, and of steering her to a rich marriage, penniless
though she was.
But this morning she had received a new impression which disturbed
her. It was not that she attached much importance to Sabina's wild
talk about working for a living, for that was absurd, on the face of
it; but there was something daring in the tone, something in the
little careless laugh which made her feel that the delicate girl might
be capable of doing very unexpected and dangerous things. The sudden
conviction came upon her that Sabina was of the kind that run away and
make love matches, and otherwise break through social conventions in a
manner quite irreparable. And if Sabina did anything of that sort, the
Baroness would not only lose all the glory she had gained, but would
of course be severely blamed by Roman society, which would be an awful
calamity if it did not amount to a social fall. She alone knew how
hard she had worked to build up her position, and she guessed how
easily an accident might destroy it.
Pages:
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111