And she herself had done the mischief! She had invited
this woman down to Matching! Heaven and earth!--that such a man as
the Duke should be such a fool!--The widow of a Jew banker! He, the
Duke of Omnium,--and thus to cut away from himself, for the rest of
his life, all honour, all peace of mind, all the grace of a noble
end to a career which, if not very noble in itself, had received
the praise of nobility! And to do this for a thin, black-browed,
yellow-visaged woman with ringlets and devil's eyes, and a beard on
her upper lip,--a Jewess,--a creature of whose habits of life and
manners of thought they all were absolutely ignorant; who drank,
possibly; who might have been a forger, for what any one knew;
an adventuress who had found her way into society by her art and
perseverance,--and who did not even pretend to have a relation in
the world! That such a one should have influence enough to intrude
herself into the house of Omnium, and blot the scutcheon, and,--
what was worst of all,--perhaps be the mother of future dukes! Lady
Glencora, in her anger, was very unjust to Madame Goesler, thinking
all evil of her, accusing her in her mind of every crime, denying
her all charm, all beauty. Had the Duke forgotten himself and his
position for the sake of some fair girl with a pink complexion and
grey eyes, and smooth hair, and a father, Lady Glencora thought that
she would have forgiven it better.
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