“They are interred. Do not resurrect them.”
George hurried to Note 2. “My sympathies with you—”
“Let the dead bury the dead. Mourn not the past.”
George skipped to Note 3. “What I am concerned about is the cats.”
“You are?”
“Oh, sir, indeed I am. I am not demonstrative. Perhaps you have not guessed my fondness for the cats?”
“I have not.”
“Believe me, it is a deep affection. When I saw that unhappy woman tigh—under the influence of spirits, what was my first thought?”
“Supply the answer.”
George took another glimpse at Note 3. “What was my first thought?” he repeated. “Was it distress at sight of a woman so forgetful of her modesty? No. Was it sympathy for the cruel deception that had been practised upon you? Forgive me, sir, it was not.” (He glanced at his notes.) “What, then?”