“Marry whom?”
“That old gentleman. I must, if you tell me. But I do not want to marry him.”
It took me a minute or two to arrive at her oriental point of view. No woman could be shown off to a man except in the light of a possible bride. I think it sometimes good to administer a shock to Carlotta, by way of treatment.
“Do you know who that old gentleman was?” said I.
“No.”
“It was Harry’s father.”
“Oh!” she said, with a grimace. “I am sorry I was so nice to him.”
What the deuce am I to do with her?
I lectured her for a quarter of an hour on the ethics of the situation. I think I only succeeded in giving her the impression that I was in a bad temper. So much did I sympathise with Harry that I forbore to acquaint her with the fact that he was a married man when he enticed her away from Alexandretta.