"I am not, so help me God; but I could not shake her off without making a scene."
"But just fancy, Philip; if we were married she would prowl about the place even more than she does at present."
"It is all your own fault, Elaine, that she gives you those scares in the evening; for she only comes when she knows I am about; if you lived more to yourself, and did not have all these women about you, I would come in the afternoon, like to-day; and she would be none the wiser, for she is at work in the day and can't come."
"It is a fearful life for me."
"Be reasonable, Elaine: any man as fascinating to your sex as I am must, of necessity, have women breaking their necks for them."
"How you amuse me," she said, smiling ironically, comparing him with someone else.
"I don't see why; you know I speak truth," he said, innocently; "let me come in the afternoon; don't have any one else; then, pet, she will not see me watching to see you when your guests are gone at night; and so you will not be troubled with her."
"But just think what a proposition you are making; she is to control our actions."
"Yes; but only for a time, pet; she will, perhaps, tire of pursuing me; if she had me, and you were out in the cold, I feel sure she would agree to my proposition."
"You certainly have a most amusing way of putting things."