the spiritual wealth of the world.«
    »But then if we can't imitate it? - it only makes our own life seem the
tamer,« said Gwendolen, in a mood to resent encouragement founded on her own
insignificance.
    »That depends on the point of view, I think,« said Deronda. »We should have
a poor life of it if we were reduced for all our pleasure to our own
performances. A little private imitation of what is good is a sort of private
devotion to it, and most of us ought to practise art only in the light of
private study - preparation to understand and enjoy what the few can do for us.
I think Miss Lapidoth is one of the few.«
    »She must be a very happy person, don't you think?« said Gwendolen, with a
touch of sarcasm, and a turn of her neck towards Mrs. Raymond.
    »I don't know,« answered the independent lady; »I must hear more of her
before I said that.«
    »It may have been a bitter disappointment to her that her voice failed her
for the stage,« said Juliet Fenn, sympathetically.
    »I suppose she's past her best, though,« said the deep voice of Lady
Pentreath.
    »On the contrary, she has not reached it,« said Deronda. »She is barely
twenty.«
    »And very pretty,« interposed Lady Mallinger, with an amiable wish to help
Deronda. »And she has very good manners. I'm sorry she is a bigoted Jewess; I
should not like it for anything else, but it doesn't matter in singing.«
    »Well, since her voice is too weak for her to scream much, I'll tell Lady
Clementina to set her on my nine granddaughters,« said Lady Pentreath; »and I
hope she'll convince eight of them that they have not voice enough to sing
anywhere but at church. My notion is, that many of our girls nowadays want
lessons not to sing.«
    »I have had my lessons in that,« said Gwendolen, looking at Deronda. »You
see Lady Pentreath is on my side.«
    While she was speaking, Sir Hugo entered with some of the other gentlemen,
including Grandcourt, and standing against the group at the low tea-table said -
    »What imposition is Deronda putting on you ladies - slipping in among you by
himself?«
    »Wanting to pass off an obscurity on us as better than any celebrity,« said
Lady Pentreath - »