Page:The Fate of Fenella (1892).djvu/82

 "And then will you call upon her?" he asked eagerly.

"No, I won't," answered his sister. "I detest fuzzy-headed little women who get on well with any man except their husband. There will be an esclandre one day, and I don't mean to be mixed up in it."

"I had no idea you were so uncharitable," he said, with genuine surprise.

"I am not the least uncharitable," she said; "but you must admit that Lady Francis has everything against her."

"Appearances may be against her," he said doubtfully.

"And appearances in society count for everything," said his sister. "If women wish to be original, and what you call reckless and impulsive, they must give up society, for you may be quite sure that they will meet with the cold shoulder wherever they go."

"You have certainly shown it to Lady Francis," he said bitterly.

"For the reason I have told you. As for your sentimental rubbish about her ill-treatment from her husband, she cannot have suffered so very dreadfully, as she has always had Count de Mürger to console her."

"Thank you, Helen; you have said quite enough. I am sorry I attempted to enlist your sympathy, and I am doubly sorry that I men-