"But surely, ma'am,
you know the truth better than I?"
Her features became a little pinched, and the touches of powder on
her handsome face for the first time showed themselves as an
extrinsic film. "Will you leave me to myself?" she said, with a
faintness which suggested a guilty conscience. "This is so
utterly unexpected--you obtain admission to my presence by
misrepresentation--"
"As God's in heaven, ma'am, that's not true. I made no pretence;
and I thought in reason you would know why I had come. This
gossip--"
"I have heard nothing of it. Tell me of it, I say."
"Tell you, ma'am--not I. What the gossip is, no matter. What
really is, you know. Set facts right, and the scandal will right
of itself. But pardon me--I speak roughly; and I came to speak
gently, to coax you, beg you to be my daughter's friend. She
loved you once, ma'am; you began by liking her. Then you dropped
her without a reason, and it hurt her warm heart more than I can
tell ye. But you were within your right as the superior, no
doubt.
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