Eva's mind was thoroughly made up, and she choked the rising misgivings.
"He must know some time," she thought, "and it is best I should tell him."
"You are going to be Adam in the garden of Eden, possibly for the last time," she said with mock solemnity, which covered her own earnestness; "to-night the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil will be offered you—"
"By the woman?" asked Jim, indicating Eva.
"On the contrary," said she, "by Augustus Harris. Every man since Adam has had it offered him sooner or later, Reggie, and the majority of them eat it. The apple, in this case, is Tannhäuser, accompanied by my comments on it. It's a funny sort of apple. I'm giving you the core first, which is rather dry, probably, and the fruit comes afterwards, like dessert after savouries."
"The core is rather hard," remarked Reggie unceremoniously.
"Oh, it will taste quite different when you chew it up with the fruit."
"Give us some more of the core," asked Jim.
"Well, there's Venus, of course," said Eva, "about whom I haven't told you anything yet. She is just the opposite to the pilgrim's march; she regards things from an entirely different standpoint, you know. I'm always a little sorry for Venus. Tannhäuser goes away just when she has got very fond of him."
Eva stopped a moment and looked at Reggie.