“Than Paul.”
“Oh, Marius!” she reproached him for levity.
“He’s a fanatic for success.”
“Oh, I don’t call that—”
“Nor nobody else in Endbury—but it is, all the same. And the only wonder is that Lydia should have been attracted by Rankin’s heretical brand and not by Paul’s orthodox variety. It shows she’s rare.”
“Good gracious, Marius! You talk as though it were a question of ideas or convictions.”
“That’s a horrible conception,” he admitted gravely.
“It’s which one she’s in love with!” Mrs. Sandworth emitted this with solemnity.
The doctor stood up to go. “She’s not in love with either,” he pronounced. “She’s never been allowed the faintest sniff at reality or life or experience—how can she be in love?”
“Well, they’re in love with her,” she triumphed for her sex.