452 THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY. " I know what he thinks ; he came to see me last evening." " As soon as you had arrived 1 Then you know all about it, and you needn't apply to me for information." " It isn't information I want. At bottom, it's sympathy. I had set my heart on that marriage ; the idea did what so few things do it satisfied the imagination." " Your imagination, yes. But not that of the persons concerned." " You mean by that of course that I am not concerned. Of course not directly. But when one is such an old friend, one can't help having something at stake. You forget how long I have known Pansy. You mean, of course," Madame Merle added, " that you are one of the persons concerned." " No ; that's the last thing I mean. I am very weary of it all." Madame Merle hesitated a little. " Ah yes, your work's done.' 3 " Take care what you say," said Isabel, very gravely. " Oh, I take care ; neve? perhaps more than when it appears least. Your husband judges you severely." Isabel made for a moment no answer to this ; she felt choked with bitterness. It was not the insolence of Madame Merle's informing her that Osmond had been taking her into his con- fidence as against his wife that struck her most : for she was not quick to believe that this was meant for insolence. Madame Merle was very rarely insolent, and only when it was exactly right. It was not right now, or at least it was not right yet. What touched Isabel like a drop of corrosive acid upon an open wound, was the knowledge that Osmond dishonoured her in his words as well as in his thoughts. " Should you like to know how I judge him 1" she asked at last, " No, because you would never tell me. And it would be ]>; iiiful for me to know." There was a pause, and for the first time since she had known her, Isabel thought Madame Merle disagreeable. She wished she would leave her. " Remember how attractive Pansy is, and don't despair," she said abruptly, with a desire that this should close their interview. But Madame Merle's expansive presence underwent no contra- diction. She only gathered her mantle about her, and, with the movement, scattered upon the air a faint, agreeable fragrance. " I don't despair," she answered ; " I feel encouraged. And I didn't come to scold you ; I came if possible to learn the truth.
