“No, I do not. Nature is a farce.”
“You are the farce!” said the Countess. “I could never live with a man like you, Quentin.”
“Couldn’t you?”
“No. If I had married you, we would have ended badly.”
“Would we have beaten each other?”
“Probably.”
“Look here; two things would have pleased me,” replied Quentin. “To allow myself to be struck by you would have been magnificent, but to give you a drubbing would also have been good.”
“Would you have dared?” said the Countess with a slight flush in her cheeks, and her eyes shining.
“Yes, if I were your husband,” answered Quentin calmly.
“Don’t pay any attention to this fellow,” said Pacheco, “for all that is just idle fancy.”