“I suppose you’ve already got her picked out for me,” remarked Selden, with irony.
“As it happens, I have,” said Scott coolly. “I was talking to her last night.”
Selden stared at him, all his blood in his face.
“Do you mean Madame Ghita?” he asked.
“Of course I do,” Scott answered curtly.
“But look here,” Selden stammered, “you’re joking, of course! Do you suppose I’d have the nerve ... I’m not good enough for her ... I’m not big enough....”
“Of course you’re not,” broke in Scott impatiently. “But that doesn’t matter, if you can make her happy. Think what it would mean to live with a woman like that!”
“Yes,” said Selden, between set teeth; “I have thought....”
“And she could make any man big—if she loved him!”
“Ah, yes,” agreed Selden hoarsely, “if she loved him! She couldn’t love me!”