intercourse than anything that
in his various own past intercourses he had had to reckon on. If
therefore her presence was now quite other than the one she had shown
him the night before, there was nothing of violence in the change--it
was all harmony and reason. It gave him a mild deep person, whereas he
had had on the occasion to which their interview was a direct reference
a person committed to movement and surface and abounding in them; but
she was in either character more remarkable for nothing than for her
bridging of intervals, and this now fell in with what he understood he
was to leave to her. The only thing was that, if he was to leave it
ALL to her, why exactly had she sent for him? He had had, vaguely, in
advance, his explanation, his view of the probability of her wishing to
set something right, to deal in some way with the fraud so lately
practised on his presumed credulity. Would she attempt to carry it
further or would she blot it out? Would she throw over it some more or
less happy colour; or would she do nothing about it at all? He
perceived soon enough at least that, however reasonable she might be,
she wasn't vulgarly confused, and it herewith pressed upon him that
their eminent "lie," Chad's and hers, was simply after all such an
inevitable tribute to good taste as he couldn't have wished them not to
render. Away from them, during his vigil, he had seemed to wince at
the amount of comedy involved; whereas in his present posture he could
only ask himself how he should enjoy any attempt from her to take the
comedy back. He shouldn't enjoy it at all; but, once more and yet once
more, he could trust her. That is he could trust her to make deception
right. As she presented things the ugliness--goodness knew why--went
out of them; none the less too that she could present them, with an art
of her own, by not so much as touching them. She let the matter, at
all events, lie where it was--where the previous twenty-four hours had
placed it; appearing merely to circle about it respectfully, tenderly,
almost piously, while she took up another question.

She knew she hadn't really thrown dust in his eyes; this, the previous
night, before they separated, had practically passed between them; and,
as she had sent for him to see what the difference thus made for him
might amount to, so he was conscious at the end of five minutes that he
had been tried and tested. She had settled with Chad after he left
t