"
"It was Lady Laura."
"I supposed so."
"They say she is frantic about him, my dear."
"I never believe those things. Women do not get frantic about men
in these days. They have been very old friends, and have known each
other for many years. Her brother, Lord Chiltern, was his particular
friend. I do not wonder that she should have seen him."
"Of course you know that she is a widow."
"Oh, yes;--Mr. Kennedy had died long before I left England."
"And she is very rich. She has got all Loughlinter for her life, and
her own fortune back again. I will bet you anything you like that she
offers to share it with him."
"It may be so," said Madame Goesler, while the slightest blush in the
world suffused her cheek.
"And I'll make you another bet, and give you any odds."
"What is that?"
"That he refuses her. It is quite a common thing nowadays for ladies
to make the offer, and for gentlemen to refuse. Indeed, it was felt
to be so inconvenient while it was thought that gentlemen had not the
alternative, that some men became afraid of going into society.
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