,« I said curtly, »but I suppose Doña Rita's feelings,
instincts, call it what you like - or only her chivalrous fidelity to her
mistakes -«
    »Doña Rita's presence here in this town, her withdrawal from the possible
complications of her life in Paris has produced an excellent effect on my son.
It simplifies infinite difficulties, I mean moral as well as material. It's
extremely to the advantage of her dignity, of her future, and of her peace of
mind. But I am thinking, of course, mainly of my son. He is most exacting.«
    I felt extremely sick at heart. »And so I am to drop everything and vanish,«
I said, rising from my chair again. And this time Mrs. Blunt got up, too, with a
lofty and inflexible manner but she didn't dismiss me yet.
    »Yes,« she said distinctly. »All this, my dear Monsieur George, is such an
accident. What have you got to do here? You look to me like somebody who would
find adventures wherever he went as interesting and perhaps less dangerous than
this one.«
    She slurred over the word dangerous but I picked it up. »What do you know of
its dangers, Madame, may I ask?« But she did not condescend to hear.
    »And then you, too, have your chivalrous feelings,« she went on, unswerving,
distinct, and tranquil. »You are not absurd. But my son is. He would shut her up
in a convent for a time if he could.«
    »He isn't the only one,« I muttered.
    »Indeed!« she was startled, then lower, »Yes. That woman must be the centre
of all sorts of passions,« she mused audibly. »But what have you got to do with
all this? It's nothing to you.«
    She waited for me to speak.
    »Exactly, Madame,« I said, »and therefore I don't see why I should concern
myself in all this one way or another.«
    »No,« she assented with a weary air, »except that you might ask yourself
what is the good of tormenting a man of noble feelings, however absurd. His
Southern blood makes him very violent sometimes. I fear -« And then for the
first time during this conversation, for the first time since I left Doña Rita
the day before, for the first time I laughed.
    »Do you mean to hint, Madame
