human
I'm so sorry!
gpt
That you're my neighbour? she interrupted sweetly.
human
How unkind!
gpt
No! But I never knew he was your husband.
human
Who? Mr. Berring?
gpt
Don't make it harder for me, he entreated softly.
human
I've been calling myself names ever since we parted.
gpt
You should have left that to me, Mr. Askew.
human
There's nothing in it, you know, he stuttered, heedlessly.
gpt
Of course, she never married him.
human
I hope not, for the sake of morality, said Lady Jim, lightly, and thinking that the soup was worse than usual.
gpt
However, it doesn't matter. My husband is a modest man, and sometimes drops his title when travelling. I daresay, as Mr. Berring, he thought he was free to make love.
human
But he wasn't,
gpt
You should tell him so.
human
I intend to--in the smoking room.
gpt
Don't make trouble, she said, in a somewhat domineering tone;
human
But not to make love to her,
gpt
I am no casuist, replied Leah, calmly;
human
She wouldn't have me!
gpt
Is she so much in love with Mr. Berring, then?
human
Please don't, Lady James. I can't talk like this to you.
gpt
It seems to me that you are talking; therefore I repeat my question.
human
It might only have been gratitude,
gpt
For what?
human
Berring--I mean your husband--saved her from being trampled upon by a mustang.
gpt
How picturesque, and how suited to Jim's qualifications! And she----?
human
No, she didn't, interrupted Askew, hurriedly.
gpt
I see I have been mistaken. It was gratitude, not love.
human
Of course, said Lady Jim, jeeringly;
gpt
I wish I'd stopped and tried my luck,
human
It's not too late. Mr. Berring is safely secured, by love and the law, to my apron-strings, so you can go back and----
gpt
No; I've just come in for a property of sorts, and the service has seen the last of me.
human
Is Señorita Fajardo in the same predicament as the service?
gpt
There's a cousin, Lady James----
human
A female cousin, who goes with the property, as a fixture. I quite understand. You have to marry her, out of gratitude for the money, and without the discomforting passion of love. The Spanish lady's history repeats itself, I see.
gpt
How quick you are!
human
You can't have had much to do with women, she murmured;
gpt
No; as things are, it's none of my funeral,
human
Quite so. I am the chief mourner.
gpt
But I say, Lady James, said the lieutenant, anxiously,
human
I hope what I've inadvertently told you won't----
gpt
Of course not, she assured him, mendaciously;
human
I think I must have been, said Askew, with great relief.
gpt
Of course, people talk at Lima, as elsewhere,
human
Unless South America is inhabited by the deaf and dumb, I suppose they do.
gpt
You're laughing at me, Lady James.
human
I always laugh. It's good for the digestion.
gpt
At everything?
human
At everything.
gpt
Even at love?
human
Remember you are engaged to the fixture, Mr. Askew.
gpt
But I say, can't I come and see you in town?
human
I shall be delighted, if you can find your way to Curzon Street.
gpt
You live there?
human
In a most respectable manner with my husband, Mr. Berring. I'm known as Lady Jim of Curzon Street. Most improper, isn't it, when Berring----?
gpt
I say, don't, expostulated the young man, quickly.
human
I'll never forgive myself for being such a fool. Can I call you Lady Jim?
gpt
Certainly not. Only people who have known me fifty years address me so familiarly.
human
You must believe in re-incarnation then,
gpt
I was Circe in the days of Homer, Mr. Askew. But as to my name now, there is another Lady Jim--a horrid woman who carries tracts and meddles with morals, and dresses in a piously shabby fashion. So that we may not be mixed up, I am known by the name of the street I live in. To you I am Lady James Kaimes!
human
And Circe, the sorceress,
gpt
We'll see what sort of animal my magic will turn you into,