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hear you talk,' remarked Mrs. Hilary Musgrave—and, if any one is surprised to find me at her house, I can only say that Hilary, when he asked me to take pot-luck, was quite ignorant of any ground of difference between his wife and myself, and that Mrs. Hilary could not very well eject me on my arrival in evening dress at ten minutes to eight—'to hear you talk one would think that there was no such thing as real love.'

She paused. I smiled.

'Now,' she continued, turning a fine but scornful eye upon me, 'I have never cared for any man in the world except my husband.'

I smiled again. Poor Hilary looked very uncomfortable. With an apologetic air he began to stammer something about Parish Councils. I was not to be diverted by any such manœuvre. It was impossible that he could really wish to talk on that subject.

'Would a person who had never eaten anything but beef make a boast of it?' I asked. 57