"You have thrown him over. Is he to go on for ever asking and being refused?"
"I do not know why he should not," said Violet, "seeing how very little trouble it gives him. Half an hour once in six months does it all for him, allowing him time for coming and going in a cab."
"Violet, I do not understand you. Have you refused Oswald so often because he does not pass hours on his knees before you?"
"No, indeed! His nature would be altered very much for the worse before he could do that."
"Why do you throw it in his teeth then that he does not give you more of his time?"
"Why have you come to tell me to marry Mr. Phineas Finn? That is what I want to know. Mr. Phineas Finn, as far as I am aware, has not a shilling in the world,—except a month's salary now due to him from the Government. Mr. Phineas Finn I believe to be the son of a country doctor in Ireland,—with about seven sisters. Mr. Phineas Finn is a Roman Catholic. Mr. Phineas Finn is,—or was a short time ago,—in love with another lady; and Mr. Phineas Finn is not so much in love at this moment but what he is able to intrust his cause to an ambassador. None short of a royal suitor should ever do that with success."
"Has he never pleaded his cause to you himself?"
"My dear, I never tell gentlemen's secrets. It seems that if he has, his success was so trifling that he has thought he had better trust some one else for the future."
"He has not trusted me. He has not given me any commission."
"Then why have you come?"