's kept a secret from the husband by the
wife,--and from the mother by the daughter. If it cannot be stopped
in any other way, I must tell Mrs. Van Siever;--I must, indeed. I have
such an abhorrence of the old woman, that I could not bring myself to
speak to her,--but I should write to her. That's what I should do."

"But what's the reason? You might as well tell me the real reason."
Had Miss Demolines been christened Mary, or Fanny, or Jane, I think
that John Eames would now have called her by either of those names;
but Madalina was such a mouthful that he could not bring himself to
use it at once. He had heard that among her intimates she was called
Maddy. He had an idea that he had heard Dalrymple in old times talk
of her as Maddy Mullins, and just at this moment the idea was not
pleasant to him; at any rate he could not call her Maddy as yet. "How
am I to help you," he said, "unless I know all about it?"

"I hate that girl like poison!" said Miss Demolines, confidentially,
drawing herself very near to Johnny as she spoke.

"But what has she done?"

"What has she done? I can't tell you what she has done. I could not
demean myself by repeating it. Of course we all know what she wants.
She wants to catch Conway Dalrymple. That's as plain as anything can
be. Not that I care about that."

"Of course not," said Johnny.

"Not in the least. It's nothing to me. I have known Mr. Dalrymple, no
doubt, for a year or two, and I should be sorry to see a young man
who has his good points sacrificed in that sort of way. But it is
mere acquaintance between Mr. Dalrymple and me, and of course I cannot
interfere."

"She'll have a lot of money, you know."

"He thinks so; does he? I suppose that is what Maria has told him.
Oh, Mr. Eames, you don't know the meanness of women; you don't,
indeed. Men are so much more noble."

"Are they, do you think?"

"Than some women. I see women doing things that really disgust
me; I do indeed;--things that I wouldn't do myself, were it ever
so;--striving to catch men in every possible way, and for such
purposes! I wouldn't have believed it of Maria Clutterbuck. I
wouldn't indeed. However, I will never say a word against her,
because she has been my friend. Nothing shall ever induce me."

John Eames before he left Porchester Terrace, had at last succeeded
in calling his fair friend Madalina, and had promised that he would
endeavour to open the artist's eyes to the folly of painting his
pic