He particularly devoted himself to Kate, partly in courtesy as to the guest of the party, partly because, as he said, he felt himself responsible for her; and she was in supreme enjoyment, talking freely to one able and willing to answer her remarks and questions, and with the companionship of girls of her own age besides. She was most of all delighted with the Alhambra—the beauty of it was to her like a fairy tale; and she had read Washington Irving’s “Siege of Granada,” so that she could fancy the courts filled with the knightly Moors, who were so noble that she could not think why they were not Christians—nay, the tears quite came into her eyes as she looked up in Lord de la Poer’s face, and asked why nobody converted the Abencerrages instead of fighting with them!
It was a pity that
