I have never been false to your father; no man has ever
insulted me that way, or ever will. If he did, I would shoot him as I
would a dog. I cannot help being pretty any more than you; I cannot sew
myself up in a bag, and shall not try to catch the small-pox, so do not
worry me again with this sickly sentiment about respectability, and the
duties of a wife. I know my own business, and can protect my own
reputation."
After this there was nothing more to be said. Daisy went back to her
profession, and Bessie took up the old life again with an added burden
of care and anxiety, and with a resolve that she would use for herself
personally just as little as possible of the money her mother sent them.
Often and often had she speculated upon and tried to fancy the class of
men her mother associated with, and whom Lady Jane called her victims,
and now here was one beside her, speaking and acting like a gentleman,
and she felt her blood tingle with bitter shame and humiliation. Had her
mother fleeced _him_, she wondered, and at last, lifting her sad eyes to
his face, she said:
"Do you know my mother well? Did you ever--play with her?"
"Yes, often," he replied; "side by side at _rouge et noir_, and at cards
and chess where she is sure to beat.
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