I doubt if any man alive had ever had the courage even to wink at her since the Duke had first called her his own.

Nor was she a spendthrift, or a gambler.

She was not fast in her tastes, or given to any pursuit that was objectionable.

She was simply a fool, and as a fool was ever fearing that she was the mark of ridicule.

In all such miseries she would complain sorrowfully, piteously, and occasionally very angrily, to her dear Duke and protector; till sometimes her dear Duke did not quite know what to do with her or how to protect her.