"But all the same——"
"No, I won't hear a word of good about him. I hate him!"
Janie smiled in an indulgent but rather troubled way. Her problem was serious; she could not afford the Imp's pettish treatment of the world and the people in it. Janie had responsibilities—banks and buildings full of them—and a heart to please into the bargain. Singularly complicated questions are rather cruelly put before young women, who must solve them on peril of—— It would sound like exaggeration to say what.
There was Mrs Iver to be said good-by to—plump, peaceful, proper Mrs Iver, whom nothing had great power to stir save an unkindness and an unconventionality; before either of these she bristled surprisingly.
"I hope you've all enjoyed this lovely afternoon," she said to Mina.
"Oh, yes, we have, Mrs Iver—not quite equally perhaps, but still——"
Mrs Iver sighed and kissed her.
"Men are always the difficulty, aren't they?" said the Imp.
"Poor child, and you've lost yours!"
"Yes, poor Adolf!" There was a touch of duty in Mina's sigh. She had been fond of Adolf, but his memory was not a constant presence. The world for the living was Madame Zabriska's view.