She little knew Lady Doris. Going up to her with a book of patterns in her hand, she was almost startled by the clear, keen gaze that met her own--by the perfect judgment and cool, clear, calm sense of the earl's daughter. "There will be some few things, madame," said the clear, haughty voice, "that you will understand far better than I do, others in which I shall prefer to please myself." And madame found that Lady Studleigh had a taste and artistic sense of what is beautiful far superior to her own. The next few hours were delightful to Doris. The rarest and most costly laces, the most beautiful embroidery, the finest silk, the richest velvet--there never were such purchases made. She did not limit herself either as to quality or quantity, and nothing was forgotten--tiny slippers fit for Cinderella, dancing shoes, fans, gloves. She might have been a practiced old dowager, selecting a _trousseau_ for her youngest daughter. The sum total was something enormous. Even madame, accustomed as she was to large accounts, looked slightly frightened. "My Lord Linleigh placed no limit," she said to Doris. "No, I must have all I require; I shall not return to town until the season begins," was the perfectly self-possessed reply. Then Lord Linleigh returned, and madame watched his face intently as that wonderful account was placed before him. "It takes four figures," he said, with a smile; "that is quite right, my darling. I hope that you have everything you want. To-morrow we will pay a visit to Storr & Mortimer's, the jewelers. These packages, madame, are all to be sent to Linleigh Court." Doris was in the highest spirits. She said to herself--and it was probably true--that no girl in England, not even a royal princess, had such a _trousseau_; but she had too much good taste to show any undue elation over it. When they had dined she said to her father: "Papa, you will not care to spend the evening here; it will be dull for you, and I cannot go out. Should you not like to go to your club?" "Yes; but what of you, my dear?" "I am tired, and shall be very glad to take a book and go to my own room with it." "My dear Doris," said the earl, who had slightly dreaded the long, lonely evening, "you are a most sensible girl. If you treat Earle as you treat me, he ought to be the happiest husband in the world." "I hope he will be, papa," was the quiet reply. And she wondered what her father, the Earl of Linleigh, would say if he knew from whom she had taken her early lessons in the art of managing men. "If you want a man to be really fond of you, Doris," he used to say, "to feel at home with you, and never to be bored in your society, let him have his own way--offer him his liberty, even when he does not seem inclined to take it; suggest to him a game at billiards, a few hours at his club--you have no idea how he will appreciate you for it."