"Don't you think that boy's mother is the most beautiful woman of
her age you've ever seen?"

Soames shivered. Uncanny, the way she stuck to it!

"I don't know that I noticed her."

"Dear, I saw the corner of your eye."

"You see everything--and a great deal more, it seems to me!"

"What's her husband like? He must be your first cousin, if your
fathers were brothers."

"Dead, for all I know," said Soames, with sudden vehemence. "I
haven't seen him for twenty years."

"What was he?"

"A painter."

"That's quite jolly."

The words: "If you want to please me you'll put those people out
of your head," sprang to Soames's lips, but he choked them back--
he must NOT let her see his feelings.

"He once insulted me," he said.

Her quick eyes rested on his face.