"Yes, that is what everyone expected, but it didn't turn out like that."
"No? Who is going, then?"
"Rouse."
Desterro stared.
"Oh, no. No, that I refuse to believe. It is quite simply not possible."
"It is true, I am afraid."
"You mean that-that someone-that they have preferred that canaille, that espece d'une -!"
"Teresa!" warned Rick, amused to see her moved for once.
Desterro sat silent for a space, communing with herself.
"If I were not a lady," she said at length in clear tones, "I would spit!"