Ashley: "Disgust me?"
Miss Garnett: "Yes, and drive you back to Emily Fray."
Ashley: "Drive me ba—"
Miss Garnett: "If she thought you were engaged to Emily, when you were coming here all the time, and she wasn't quite sure that she hated to have you, don't you see it would be her duty to sacrifice herself, and— Oh, I suppose she's heard everything up there, and—" She catches herself up and runs out of the room, leaving Ashley to await the retarded descent of skirts which he hears on the stairs after the crash of the street door has announced Miss Garnett's escape. He stands with his back to the mantel, and faces Miss Ramsey as she enters the room.
VII
MISS RAMSEY, ASHLEY
Miss Ramsey, with the effect of cold surprise: "Mr. Ashley? I thought I heard— Wasn't Miss Garnett—"
Ashley: "She was. Did you think it was the street door closing on me?"
Miss Ramsey: "How should I know?" Then, courageously: "No, I didn't think it was. Why do you ask?" She moves uneasily about the room, with an air of studied inattention.
Ashley: "Because if you did, I can put you in the right, though I can't restore Miss Garnett's presence by my absence."