"'I love my wife, madam,' I said, 'too well to be content with half words and innuendoes, which in their effect are worse than open accusations.'
"'Accusations!' exclaimed the lady. 'Good Heavens! I have brought none.'
"'It is for that reason I complain,' I said; 'accusations can be met, and are by no means so much to be feared as idle words which affect the honour of those who are the subject of them.'
"'I merely repeated,' then said the lady, 'what others have been saying for a long time past.'
"'And what have others been saying for a long time past, madam?' I asked, with an outward calmness which deceived her into the belief that I was not taking the matter seriously to heart.
"'I am sure it is very foolish of them,' said the lady, 'and that there is nothing in it. But people are so mischievous, and place such dreadful constructions upon things! It is, after all, only natural that when, after a long separation, young lovers meet, they should feel a little tender towards each other, even though one of them has got married in the interval. We all go through such foolish experiences, and when we grow as old as you and I are, we laugh at them.'
"'Probably, madam,' I said, still with exceeding calmness; 'but before we can laugh with any genuineness or enjoyment, it is necessary to have some knowledge of the cause of our mirth. When young lovers meet, you said, after a long separation, it is natural they should feel a tenderness towards each other. But we are speaking of my wife.'
"'Yes,' she replied, 'of your wife, and I am sure you are too sensible a man--so much older than that sweet creature!--to make any unnecessary bother about it.'
"She knew well how to plant daggers in my heart.
"'My wife, then, is one of those young lovers? You really must answer me, madam. These are, after all, but foolish experiences.'