What did
you do?'
'I made a lasting impression.'
'So have I for four months. But that didn't console me in the least. I
hated the man. Will you stop smiling in that inscrutable way and
tell me what you mean?'
Mrs. Mallowe told.
'And you mean to say that it is absolutely Platonic on both sides?'
'Absolutely, or I should never have taken it up.'
'And his last promotion was due to you?'
Mrs. Mallowe nodded.
'And you warned him against the Topsham Girl?'
Another nod.
'And told him of Sir Dugald Delane's private memo about him?'
A third nod.
'Why?'
'What a question to ask a woman! Because it amused me at first. I
am proud of my property now. If I live, he shall continue to be
successful. Yes, I will put him upon the straight road to
Knighthood, and everything else that a man values. The rest
depends upon himself.'
'Polly, you are a most extraordinary woman.'
'Not in the least. I'm concentrated, that's all. You diffuse yourself,
dear; and though all Simla knows your skill in managing a team '
'Can't you choose a prettier word?'
'Team, of half-a-dozen, from The Mussuck to the Hawley Boy, you
gain nothing by it. Not even amusement.'
'And you?'
'Try my recipe. Take a man, not a boy, mind, but an almost mature,
unattached man, and be his guide, philosopher, and friend. You'll
find it the most interesting occupation that you ever embarked on.
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