"Apparently."
"What did she do it for, Eliot?"
"What does mother do anything for? I imagine she wanted to put Jerrold off so that you could stick on with Colin. You've taken him off her hands and she wants him kept off."
"So she told him I was Colin's mistress."
"Mind you, she doesn't think a bit the worse of you for that. She admires you for it no end."
"Do you suppose I care what she thinks? It's her making Jerrold think it…Eliot, how could she?"
"She could, because she only sees things as they affect herself."
"Do you believe she really thinks it?"
"She's made herself think it because she wanted to."
"But why—why should she want to?"