Page:The Fruit of the Tree (Wharton 1907).djvu/233

Rh “Well, the Fenton Carburys, then!” Mrs. Ansell left it to her tone to annotate the announcement.

Mr. Langhope raised his eyebrows slightly. “Are they likely to be an exceptionally costly pleasure?”

“If you’re trying to prove that I haven’t kept to the point—I can assure you that I’m well within it!”

“But since the good Blanche has got her divorce and married Carbury, wherein do they differ from other week-end automata?”

“Because most divorced women marry again to be respectable.”

Mr. Langhope smiled faintly. “Yes—that’s their punishment. But it would be too dull for Blanche.”

“Precisely. She married again to see Ned Bowfort!”

“Ah—that may yet be hers!”

IVIrs. Ansell sighed at his perversity. “Meanwhile, she’s brought him here, and it is unnatural to see Bessy lending herself to such combinations.”

“You’re corrupted by a glimpse of the old societies. Here Bowfort and Carbury are simply hands at bridge.”

“Old hands at it—yes! And the bridge is another point: Bessy never used to play for money.”

“Well, she may make something, and offset her husband’s prodigalities.” '

“There again—with this train de vie, how on earth are both ends to meet?” [ 217 ]