"The selection doesn't include you, my good man, so don't be disappointed."
Jim could have shaken her, and began to understand why the lower orders indulged in wife-beating. But as they were entering the drawing-room at this moment, he had to play the part of a devoted husband. Leah floated radiantly into the brilliantly lighted apartment, and Jim sought out the oldest and ugliest woman he could find. When he thought of his wife, beauty sickened him for the time being. Thus it came about that Miss Jaffray had the pleasure of shouting into his ear throughout a long and wearisome dinner.
Whether it was the work of the fetish or of Lady Frith, Leah did not know, but she found herself seated at the table with Askew on her right hand.
The young man looked flustered, and ill at ease. "I'm so sorry!" he began apologetically, and, as she thought, tactlessly.
"That you're my neighbour?" she interrupted sweetly. "How unkind!"
"No! But I never knew he was your husband."
"Who? Mr. Berring?"
"Don't make it harder for me," he entreated softly. "I've been calling myself names ever since we parted."
"You should have left that to me, Mr. Askew."
"There's nothing in it, you know," he stuttered, heedlessly. "Of course, she never married him."