"Charming mother! How tenderly you have cherished her!"
"Horace," calmly enough, "is it wise to anger me?"
"It may not be wise, but I have never seen you in a rage. You would be magnificent."
"Cease this foolery," patiently. "I am in no mood for it to-night. As an associate in this equivocal business, you do very well; you are necessary. But do not presume too much upon that. For all that I may not have been what a mother should be, I still have some self-respect. So long as I have any power over her, Fortune shall never marry a man so far down in the social scale as yourself."
"Social scale? Gioconda, how you hurt me!" mockingly. "I should really like to know what your idea of that invincible barrier is. Is it because my face is in the rogues' gallery? Surely, you would not be cruel!"
"She is far above us all, my friend," continuing unruffled. "Sometimes I stand in absolute awe of her."
"A marvel! If my recollection is not at fault, many a man has entered the Villa Fanny, with a view to courtship, men beside whom I am as Roland to the lowest Saracen. You never objected to them."
"They had money and position."