I'll pay Lady
Aphrodite.' And so the Duke again showered some sovereigns, and returned
the shrunken silk to its defrauded owner, who stared, and would have
remonstrated, but the Duke turned his back upon him.
'There now,' he continued to Lady Aphrodite; 'there is two hundred per
cent, profit for you. You are not half a _marchande_. I will stand here
and be your shopman. Well, Annesley,' said he, as that dignitary passed,
'what will you buy? I advise you to get a place. 'Pon my soul, 'tis
pleasant! Try Lady de Courcy. You know you are a favourite.'
'I assure your Grace,' said Mr. Annesley, speaking slowly, 'that that
story about Lady de Courcy is quite untrue and very rude. I never turn
my back on any woman; only my heel. We are on the best possible terms.
She is never to speak to me, and I am always to bow to her. But I really
must purchase. Where did you get that glass-chain, St. James? Lady Afy,
can you accommodate me?'
'Here is one prettier! But are you near-sighted, too, Mr. Annesley?'
'Very. I look upon a long-sighted man as a brute who, not being able to
see with his mind, is obliged to see with his body.
Pages:
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73