Page:Alice Stuyvesant - The Vanity Box.djvu/48

 suitable to my position. That was what he was fussing about to-day. He thinks that she set me against him, while we were in Paris."

"As if her ladyship would!" exclaimed Rose in good-natured scorn.

Kate flushed. "Oh, I suppose you don't believe she takes the same interest in me as she did in Liane."

"If she hadn't liked you, and thought well of you, she wouldn't have taken you from parlour-maid and trained you to be her own maid, instead of getting another French woman after poor little Liane disappeared so mysteriously," Rose consoled her.

"She must have liked me, and I'm sure I do my best to please her," sighed Kate. "But I could scream, sometimes, the way she says 'Liane used to do this, or that.' Why if Edward's jealous of other men with me, I'm sure I suffer just as much as he does, or more. It's my nature to be jealous. I can't help it. I want to be all in all to any one I'm with. And I'm jealous of Liane. Sometimes I feel just mad with jealousy. I could stop doing her ladyship's hair, and box her ears, when she says in that quiet voice of hers, 'Craigie, you haven't Liane's touch.'" "Good gracious, Kate, I hope you don't burst out like that to any one but me!" gasped Mrs. Barnard, horrified at this lèse majesté. "Any one would think you hated her ladyship, she who's so kind to every one."

"Sometimes I do hate her; sometimes I'd lie down