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349 THE POETRAIT OF A LADY. 349 " Ah well, I can fancy that ; though it seems to me you are not hound to mind it. It's his affair." " I don't want to make any more trouble between them," said Ralph. " Is there so much already? " "There's complete preparation for it. Her going off with me would make the explosion. Osmond isn't fond of his wife's cousin." " Then of course he would make a row. But won't he make a row if you stop here 1 " " That's what I want to see. He made one the last time I ' was in Rome, and then I thought it my duty to go away. Now I think it's my duty to stop and defend her." " My dear Touchett, your defensive powers " Lord War- burton began, with a smile. But he saw something in his com- panion's face that checked him. " Your duty, in these premises, eeems to me rather a nice question," he said. Ealph for a short time answered nothing. " It is true that my defensive powers are small," he remarked at last ; " but as .my aggressive ones are still smaller, Osmond may, after all, not think me worth his gunpowder. At any rate," he added, " there are things I am curious to see." " You are sacrificing your health to your curiosity then 1 " " I am not much interested in my health, and I am deeply interested in Mrs. Osmond." " So am I. But not as I once was," Lord Warburton added quickly. This was one of the allusions he had not hitherto found occasion to make. "Does shfc strike you as very happy 1 ?" Ralph inquired, emboldened by this confidence. " Well, I don't know ; I have hardly thought. She told me the other night that she was happy." " Ah, she told you, of course," Ralph exclaimed, smiling. " I don't know that. It seems to me I was rather the sort of person she might have complained to." " Complain ? She will never complain. She has done it, and she knows it. She will ctmplain to you least of all. She is very careful." 44 She needn't be. I don't mean to make love to her again." " I am delighted to hear it ; there can be no doubt at least of your duty." " Ah no," said Lord Warburton, gravely ; "none ! " " Permit me to ask," Ralph went on, " whether it is to bring