"On any subject?"
"Yes;—on any subject."
"I trust you have been able to rid your bosom of all remembrances of Violet Effingham."
"Certainly not of all remembrances, Lady Laura."
"Of all hope, then?"
"I have no such hope."
"And of all lingering desires?"
"Well, yes;—and of all lingering desires. I know now that it cannot be. Your brother is welcome to her."
"Ah;—of that I know nothing. He, with his perversity, has estranged her. But I am sure of this,—that if she do not marry him, she will marry no one. But it is not on account of him that I speak. He must fight his own battles now."
"I shall not interfere with him, Lady Laura."