'I made the suggestion. She looked at me with amazement, coloured crimson, and went away. I have lost all my chances with her.'
'Then she must be an ungrateful minx'—said Manisty, lowering his voice and looking round him towards the villa, 'considering the pains you take.'
'Some of us must take pains,' said Mrs. Burgoyne, significantly.
'Some of us do'—he said, laughing. 'The others profit.—One goes on praying for the primitive,—but when it comes—No!—it is not permitted to be as typical as Miss Foster.'
'Typical of what?'
'The dissidence of Dissent, apparently—and the Protestantism of the
Protestant religion. Confess:—it was an odd caprice on the part of high
Jove to send her here?'
'I am sure she has a noble character—and an excellent intelligence!'
Manisty shrugged his shoulders.
'—Her grandfather'—continued the lady—'was a divinity professor and wrote a book on the Inquisition!'—
Manisty repeated his gesture.