"
STRANGER: "Oh, do you? But is the 'old Duke,' as you call him, so
severe?"
MARGOT: "I've no idea; I've never seen him or any other duke!"
STRANGER: "If I told you I could get you the blue habit, what
would you say?"
MARGOT (with a patronising smile): "I'm afraid I should say you
were running hares!"
STRANGER: "You would have to wear a top-hat, you know, and you
would not like that! But, if you are going to ride like the devil,
it might save your neck; and in any case it would keep your hair
tidy."
MARGOT (anxiously pushing back her stray curls): "Why, is my hair
very untidy? It is the first time it has ever been up; and, when I
was 'thrown from my horse,' as the papers call it, all the hair-
pins got loose."
STRANGER: "It doesn't matter with your hair; it is so pretty I
think I shall call you Miss Fluffy! By the bye, what is your
name?"
When I told him he was much surprised:
"Oh, then you are a sister-in-law of the Ancestor's, are you?"
This was the first time I ever heard Ribblesdale called "the
Ancestor"; and as I did not know what he meant, I said:
"And who are you?"
To which he replied:
"I am the Duke of Beaufort and I am not running hares this time. I
will give you the blue habit, but you know you will have to wear a
top-hat."
MARGOT: "Good gracious! I hope I've said nothing to offend you? Do
you always do this sort of thing when you meet any one like me for
the first time?"
DUKE OF BEAUFORT (with a smile, lifting his hat): "Just as it is
the first time you have ever hunted, so it is the first time I
have ever met any one like you.
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