"You have been listening to gossip?"
"Something of the sort."
"About whom?"
"Oh, if I were to tell, the riddle would be at an end. You must guess."
"About me?"
"Anybody who would circulate gossip about you would have to be endowed with a very lively imagination."
"About whom then?"
"Don't worry me. I will tell you. I came here, indeed, resolved to tell you; but then I thought it might disturb you, and I take you to witness that I only come out with it after the most rigorous inquisition on your part. It does not please me, nay—more than that, it disquiets me to see you so very friendly with Madame Kárpáthy."
"Ah!" So astounded was Flora, that that was all she could say. It was the last thing in the world she had expected to hear. "This really is surprising!" she exclaimed at last. "Another husband
would only have been afraid of his wife's intercourse with men: you present the very first example of a husband who is afraid of his wife's women-friends likewise."