“Never! I—I—now look here,” he went on, “don’t take it to heart too much. She is quite all right—that is, I expect—”
“You expect!” she said witheringly. “Here you sit; you have a beautiful young wife, the most brilliant girl I ever met, and—and you let her go! Don’t talk to me!”
“No, I won’t; let’s drop it! We will discuss it some other time—it is a matter I prefer not to talk about! Naturally it is rather—painful to me!”
“So I should think!”
“Yes, I much prefer not to talk about it. Let’s discuss Marjorie!”
“Confound Marjorie!”
“Marjorie is the sweetest little soul in the world, and—”
“It’s a pity you didn’t think of that three years ago!”
“And Tom Arundel is a fine fellow; no one can say one word against him!”
“I don’t wish to discuss them! If Marjorie is obsessed with this folly about young Arundel, it will be her misfortune. If she wants to marry him she will probably regret it. I intended her to marry you; but since it can’t be, I don’t feel any particular interest in the matter of Marjorie’s marriage at the moment! Now tell me about Joan at once!”