“I’m afraid, Emily,” she said quickly, “that it is Fernando who has put this strange and ridiculous idea into your head.”
“Not at all,” quietly responded Emily. “Fernando only corroborates my own judgment. But if you cannot trust the opinion of a man’s intimate friends and associates, what can you trust?”
“I would not trust Fernando’s opinion of anybody,” said Muriel.
“Why?” asked Emily, coolly.
“Why, dear? Because our good Fernando is nothing if not critical,” piquantly answered Muriel.
“Do you think him false?” said Emily.
“Hum!” Muriel looked doubtful—then laughed. “To tell the truth, mignonne, I think he is, on a small scale, the Iago of private life.”
“You are witty, Muriel, but you are not just,” was Emily’s cold reply.
Muriel was silent for a moment.
“Never mind,” she resumed. “We will not discuss Fernando. You will yet think better of Richard, I am confident, but as you are not in love with him, it’s no matter.”