Page 473 - the-portrait-of-a-lady

‘It was not considerate-it was convenient,’ said Mrs.
Touchett. ‘But I shall talk to Madame Merle.’
‘I don’t see why you keep bringing her in. She has been a
very good friend to me.’
‘Possibly; but she has been a poor one to me.’
‘What has she done to you?’
‘She has deceived me. She had as good as promised me to
prevent your engagement.’
‘She couldn’t have prevented it.’
‘She can do anything; that’s what I’ve always liked her
for. I knew she could play any part; but I understood that
she played them one by one. I didn’t understand that she
would play two at the same time.’
‘I don’t know what part she may have played to you,’ Is-
abel said; ‘that’s between yourselves. To me she has been
honest and kind and devoted.’
‘Devoted, of course; she wished you to marry her can-
didate. She told me she was watching you only in order to
interpose.’
‘She said that to please you,’ the girl answered; conscious,
however, of the inadequacy of the explanation.
‘To please me by deceiving me? She knows me better. Am
I pleased to-day?’
‘I don’t think you’re ever much pleased,’ Isabel was
obliged to reply. ‘If Madame Merle knew you would learn
the truth what had she to gain by insincerity?’
‘She gained time, as you see. While I waited for her to
interfere you were marching away, and she was really beat-
ing the drum.’

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