'Cadurcis!' she exclaimed, in a tender tone, 'do you love me?'
'My dear Gertrude,' said Lord Cadurcis, coolly, but rather regretting he had quitted his original and less assailable posture, 'you know I like quiet women.'
'Cadurcis, forgive me!' murmured the lady. 'Pity me! Think only how miserable I am!'
'Your misery is of your own making,' said Lord Cadurcis. 'What occasion is there for any of these extraordinary proceedings? I have told you a thousand times that I cannot endure scenes. Female society is a relaxation to me; you convert it into torture. I like to sail upon a summer sea; and you always will insist upon a white squall.'
'But you have deserted me!'
'I never desert any one,' replied Cadurcis calmly, raising her from her supplicating attitude, and leading her to a seat. 'The last time we met, you banished me your presence, and told me never to speak to you again. Well, I obeyed your orders, as I always do.'
'But I did not mean what I said,' said Lady Monteagle.
'How should I know that?' said Lord Cadurcis.
'Your heart ought to have assured you,' said the lady.
'The tongue is a less deceptive organ than the heart,' replied her companion.