Her little lips curled with scorn, as she looked toward Patty. "Oh," said Lady Estelle, shocked and remonstrant, "would you not like best of all to be good, _very_ good?" Doris broke into a frank, silvery laugh, showing dimples and pearly teeth. "No," she said, with charming candor. "I like pretty things more than being good. Mattie can be good for us both. I am pretty. To be good is _so_ dull," she sighed with grace. The duke laughed heartily, crying: "Woman, true woman!" "Not true woman at all," said the duchess, indignantly, "a very vain little girl." "_All_ little girls should be good," said Lady Estelle, sagely. Doris laughed again incredulously, with all her heart. Patty Brace stepped forward, looking distressed. "Please do not believe her--she is very good, most of the time, unless she is crossed. She has that odd way of talking, but Mark and I try our best to teach her goodness, and so do the ladies at the school. She will be good, I am sure." "Poor child," said the duchess, "I hope so." "Promise me that you will be good," said Lady Estelle. "Oh, I'll promise; but then, I don't keep promises. I don't think I shall be good. I shall laugh in school, and eat all the red apples, and run away to ride, when I am told not." "Very small sins, overcome in time," laughed the duke. "Perhaps you would like me to sing for you," said Doris, and with a voice sweet, strong, and clear, she broke into an old ballad, caught from Patty's lips, but vastly improved in her rendering. Her visitors were enchanted. "You are a very clever little lady," said the duke. "Oh, yes, I _am_ a lady," said Doris, positively, "and when I am big I shall be _just like you_," she added to Estelle. "We must go," said Lady Estelle Hereford, hastily. "Mamma, I feel quite warm and faint. I want outdoor air." CHAPTER VI. FAITHLESS AND DEBONAIR. The duke placed a shining gold sovereign in the hand of Doris, and another in the hand of the quiet Mattie. The duchess looked at the honest, healthy, pleasant face of little Mattie, her frank brown eyes, and simple, rustic manners, and said, suddenly: "I like this child best. She promises better; she fits her place; she will make the world better for her being in it." "Thank your grace," said the gratified Patty. "I hope so. But little Doris is very good, too, only we cannot help spoiling her; she has such curious ways." "Perhaps you wish to see me dance," said Doris, who had been placed on the floor. "Mattie can't dance; she won't learn the steps. I learn, and I make some steps; see me." Full of grace as a true fairy, she caught one side of her little white gown, and with a glance of veiled coquetry at the duke, began to dance. The duke clapped his hands in hearty admiration. The duchess, looking at her daughter, saw that she was deadly pale. "My dear; you are ill; you are over-fatigued!" "No, no, I am quite well," said Lady Estelle, calm and proud; "I only want fresh air; the room is close."