“Would she be staunch?”
“Oh yes! For ever—to the end of her life!”
“How do you know?”
“Why, how do people know? Of course, she will.”
Knight leant back in his chair. “Now, though I know her thoroughly as she exists in your heart, Stephen, I don’t know her in the flesh. All I want to ask is, is this idea of going to India based entirely upon a belief in her fidelity?”
“Yes; I should not go if it were not for her.”
“Well, Stephen, you have put me in rather an awkward position. If I give my true sentiments, I shall hurt your feelings; if I don’t, I shall hurt my own judgment. And remember, I don’t know much about women.”
“But you have had attachments, although you tell me very little about them.”
“And I only hope you’ll continue to prosper till I tell you more.”
Stephen winced at this rap. “I have never formed a deep attachment,” continued Knight. “I never have found a woman worth it. Nor have I been once engaged to be married.”