"I know, my dear, that it is the proper and right-minded thing for a man with a sprained ankle to go around capering and dancing for joy, and I am sorry not to be living up to your just expectations. I'll try to improve."
She turned with one of her swift transitions to Burton. "What do you think of it?"
"Exactly what I told the committee," he said, and was glad that he could say it promptly.
"You can understand now how I feel,--as though a net were drawing around me. It is so intangible and yet so horribly real. What can one do?"
Instead of answering he asked a question in his turn.
"Why does your brother hate Selby?"
"Wouldn't any one hate him?"
"Well, then, why does Selby hate your brother?"
"I don't know that he does."
"Yes, he does. They hate each other royally, and it is nothing new, either."