"I
never thought Jan could be a favourite before. Not being fastidiously
polished yourself, Lucy--forgive my saying it--you entertain, I
conclude, a fellow feeling for Jan."
Lucy--for Jan's sake--would not be beaten.
"Don't you think it is better to be like Jan, Lady Verner,
than--than--like Dr. West, for instance?"
"In what way?" returned Lady Verner.
"Jan is so true," debated Lucy, ignoring the question.
"And Dr. West was not, I suppose," retorted Lady Verner. "He wrote false
prescriptions, perhaps? Gave false advice?"
Lucy looked a little foolish. "I will tell you the difference, as it
seems to me, between Jan and other people," she said. "Jan is like a
rough diamond--real within, unpolished without--but a genuine diamond
withal. Many others are but the imitation stone--glittering outside,
false within."
Lionel was amused.
"Am I one of the false ones, Miss Lucy?"
She took the question literally.
"No; you are true," she answered, shaking her head, and speaking with
grave earnestness.
"Lucy, my dear, I would not espouse Jan's cause so warmly, were I you,"
advised Lady Verner.
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