"But that, again, is no use," said Arthur—"like the consciousness of innocence which Lady Devereux means to cultivate. Being simply an opportunity for other people seems to me the very type of a wasted life. I am continually being an opportunity for other people, and the opportunity I give them is to make unkind remarks about me; they constantly take advantage of it."
"What do they say?" asked Marie.
"They say I am idle, and therefore probably vicious. Now, nothing was ever less proved than that; it is a perfect fallacy, entirely due to that pessimistic person who said that Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do. That I am idle is, of course, quite true. For thirty years I have been very busy doing nothing whatever, and every day I live I find more nothing to do, if you understand."
"Then, you allow the world doesn't libel you?" said Lady Devereux.
"Certainly it does. It is that to which I so strongly object. People go about saying all sorts of things about me which are perfectly true. The greater the truth, the greater the libel."
Marie got up from her chair.
"It is true that the world has a keen grasp of the obvious," she said. "Why don't you disappoint them, Mr. Naseby, and do something?"
"I am ready to do almost anything in the world," said he, "for a suitable inducement; but nobody ever induces me."
"Well, I shall go for a stroll," said Marie, "and expect neither inducement nor companionship unless any one is inclined."
Jim Spencer got up instantly.