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234 234 THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY. saying it. But it will be much better that you should under- stand me." " Why so 1 " asked Madame Merle ; " what difference will it make?" " If I don't approve of your plan, you ought to know it in order to appreciate the danger of my interfering with it.". Madame Merle looked as if she were ready to admit that there might be something in this; but in a moment she said quietly " You think me more calculating than I am." "It's not your calculating that I think ill of; it's your calculating wrong. You have done so in this case." "You must have made extensive calculations yourself to discover it." " No, I have not had time for that. I have seen the girl but this once," said the Countess, " and the conviction has suddenly come to me. I like her very much." " So do I," Madame Merle declared. " You have a strange way of showing it." " Surely I have given her the advantage of making your acquaintance." " That, indeed," cried the Countess, with a laugh, " is perhaps the best thing that could happen to her ! " Madame Merle said nothing for some time. The Countess's manner was impertinent, but she did not suffer this to dis- compose her ; and with her eyes upon the violet slope of Monte Morello she gave herself up to reflection. "My dear lady," she said at last, "I advise you not to agitate yourself. The matter you allude to concerns three persons much stronger of purpose than yourself." "Three persons'? You and Osmond, of course. But is Miss Archer also very strong of purpose "?" " Quite as much so as we." " Ah then," said the Countess radiantly, " if I convince her it's her interest to resist you, she will do so successfully ! " "Resist us? Why do you express yourself so coarsely 1 ? She is not to be subjected to force." " I am not sure of that. You are capable of anything, you and Osmond. I don't mean Osmond by himself, and I don't mean you by yourself. But together you are dangerous like some chemical combination." " You had better leave us alone, then," said Madame Merle, smiling. "I don't mean to touch you but I shall talk to that girl."