'There is the copy that has gone to the printers'.'
'Then I will take this. It will do for a present—the autograph original draft of the poem—or I may keep it.'
'Zoe, come back and sit down. We must talk seriously.'
She returned and took up her old position by the fire. 'As seriously as you please. It means something disagreeable—something to do with money. Let us get it over. To go back to what we were saying, therefore. I cannot get you that money from Armorel. And at the very word of money she refers one to her lawyer. No confidence at all, as between friends who love each other. That is the position, Alec.' She sat with her hands clasped over her right knee.
'I must have some money,' he said.
'Then, as I have before remarked, Alec—make it.'
'If one cannot have money, Zoe, one may get credit, which is sometimes just as good.'
'I cannot help you in getting credit.'
'Perhaps you can. You can help me, Zoe, by keeping quite quiet.'
'Oh! I am always quiet. I have remained quiet for three years and more, while you flirt with countesses and cousins. How much more quiet do you wish me to remain? While you marry them?'