Vizard stared at him.
"You meet my virago? Why, I thought you disapproved her entirely."
"No, no; only the idea of a female doctor, not the lady herself. Besides,
it is a rule with me, my dear fellow, never to let myself disapprove my
friends' friends."
"That is a bright idea, and you are a good fellow," said Vizard. "Go and
meet the pest, by all means, and bring her here to luncheon. After
luncheon we will drive her up to the farm and ensconce her."
Edward Severne had this advantage over most impostors, that he was
masculine or feminine as occasion required. For instance, he could be
hysterical or bold to serve the turn. Another example--he watched faces
like a woman, and yet he could look you in the face like a man,
especially when he was lying. In the present conjuncture a crafty woman
would have bristled with all the arts of self-defense, but stayed at home
and kept close to Zoe. Not so our master of arts; he went manfully to
meet Rhoda Gale, and so secure a _te'te-'a-te'te,_ and learn, if
possible, what she meant to do, and whether she could be cannily
propitiated. He reached the station before her, and wired a very
intelligent person who, he knew, conducted delicate inquiries, and had
been very successful in a divorce case, public two years before.
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