The reason I
wanted to speak to you alone for a minute or two was, that I'd something
to say which might possibly please you. But perhaps you'd rather not
hear it?"
She was silent. So was he. He watched her closely for a little--noting
with complacency the indignant heaving of her breast and the flush on
her cheeks,--signs of the strong repression she was putting upon her
rising temper.
"Come, Clara, you may as well be amiable," he said. "I'm sure you'll be
glad to know that the virtuous Philip is not immaculate after all. Won't
it comfort you to think that he's nothing but a mortal man like the rest
of us? . . . and that with a little patience your charms will most
probably prevail with him as easily as they once did with me? Isn't that
worth hearing?"
"I don't understand you," she replied curtly.
"Then you are very dense, my dear girl," he remarked smilingly. "Pardon
me for saying so! But I'll put it plainly and in as few words as
possible. The moral Bruce-Errington, like a great many other 'moral' men
I know, has gone in for Violet Vere,--and I dare say you understand what
_that_ means.
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