Sophie was the life and soul of the party, but as I happened to tell her mother that Pauline was a lady who was lodging in my house, she said,
“Then she is not your wife?”
“No; such happiness is not for me. It was a joke of mine, and the lady amused herself at the expense of your credulity.”
“Well, I should like to sleep with her.”
“Really? When?”
“Whenever mamma will let me.”
“We must first ascertain,” said the mother, “what the lady thinks of the arrangement.”
“She needn’t fear a refusal,” said Pauline, giving the child a kiss.
“Then you shall have her with pleasure, madam. I will get her governess to fetch her away to-morrow.”
“At three o’clock,” said I, “for she must dine with us.”