principal thing he's known by?"

"If he's not her friend he ought to be--after what she has done
for him!" cried Mrs. Touchett. "I shouldn't have expected it of
her; I'm disappointed."

"If you mean that Madame Merle has had anything to do with my
engagement you're greatly mistaken," Isabel declared with a sort
of ardent coldness.

"You mean that your attractions were sufficient, without the
gentleman's having had to be lashed up? You're quite right.
They're immense, your attractions, and he would never have
presumed to think of you if she hadn't put him up to it. He has a
very good opinion of himself, but he was not a man to take
trouble. Madame Merle took the trouble for him."

"He has taken a great deal for himself!" cried Isabel with a
voluntary laugh.

Mrs. Touchett gave a sharp nod. "I think he must, after all, to
have made you like him so much."

"I thought he even pleased YOU."

"He did, at one time; and that's why I'm angry with him."

"Be angry with me, not with him," said the girl.

"Oh, I'm always angry with you; that's no satisfaction! Was it