You're too old an' too fat." Can't you
imagine how The Dancing Master would wince at that! ''Now go
away," she said. ''I don't want to tell you what I think of you,
because I think you are not nice. I'll stay he-ere till the next dance
begins." Did you think that the creature had so much in her?'
'I never studied her as closely as you did. It sounds unnatural. What
happened?'
'The Dancing Master attempted blandishment, reproof, jocularity,
and the style of the Lord High Warden, and I had almost to pinch
the Hawley Boy to make him keep quiet. She grunted at the end of
each sentence and, in the end, he went away swearing to himself,
quite like a man in a novel. He looked more objectionable than
ever. I laughed. I love that woman in spite of her clothes. And now
I'm going to bed. What do you think of it?'
'I shan't begin to think till the morning,' said Mrs. Mallowe,
yawning. 'Perhaps she spoke the truth. They do fly into it by
accident sometimes.'
Mrs. Hauksbee's account of her eavesdropping was an ornate one,
but truthful in the main. For reasons best known to herself, Mrs.
'Shady' Delville had turned upon Mr. Bent and rent him limb from
limb, casting him away limp and disconcerted ere she withdrew
the light of her eyes from him permanently. Being a man of
resource, and anything but pleased in that he had been called both
old and fat, he gave Mrs.
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