'Your experience of men is not great, my dear Paula.'
'I don't care! I know Mr. Egremont. Even if you said he'd married her, it isn't true. You mustn't judge every man by—'
'You were going to say?'
She rose and swept her train over a few yards of floor. Then she came back and stood before him.
'You tell me that people are saying this?'
'A considerable number of my respected constituents—and their wives—are saying it. Tasker shall give you judicial evidence, if you please.'
'I'm sure I'm not going to talk to Mr. Tasker. I dislike him too much to believe a word he says.'
'Of course. But he is absolutely trustworthy. I called at Egremont's this afternoon to make sure that he was away from home. Now there is something for you to talk about, Paula.'
'I shall take very good care that I don't speak a word of it to anyone. It's contemptible to make up such a story about a man just because you dislike him.'
'It seemed to me that you were not remarkably fond of him two months or so ago.'