"And why do you want to know?"
"O, just a fancy! I know men sometimes do that kind of thing. Personally I think it is rather cowardly."
"Why cowardly?..."
"Because it shows a man hasn't the pluck to own he has made a mistake. He would rather go on with it, and pretend everything is all right."
She saw him bite his lip, and felt more thoroughly that he would not meet her eyes.
"It is hard on the other woman, the one he does love, too. It might make her very happy to be told. One joy is better than two miseries any day, even if his lordship did have to own to a mistake and look rather silly!..." with a little laugh.
"Perhaps I shall know more about it when I am married," trying to speak carelessly. "You must ask me later."
"Probably I shall not want to know then; my fancies are always varying. What should you do, for instance, if you suddenly found you cared for someone else more than Meryl?"
She was watching him closely, and she saw the swift, tell-tale blood rush to his face.
"I'm sure I don't know," he answered, with a forced, unnatural laugh. "It is rather a remote probability now."