The Argosy — page 172: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Lottte’s “Yes,” | 159 Captain Davenant cannot bring himself to be more reasonable: he has tried very hard.” Eve remaining mute, she went on. ‘ You are puzzled? you don’t understand? Well, there has been too much darkness between us: let it all be clear now.” “Oh Lottie! how can it be clear P” ‘Why not? In the first place, as Harry Davenant is to be my husband, I desire to hear exactly what passed when he marched off with you in that majestic manner: I must know every word he said to you, and every word you said to him.” ‘‘T cannot—I must not; do not ask me!” ‘ But if I insist upon it ?” said Lottie gravely. ‘Pray, pray do not: you do not know how wretched you are making me!” “Ves, I do; but it will soon be over: you are having a tooth out which has ached for a long time, but is never going to ache any more. You will not confess ? not a word? Well, then, I must try to guess what passed. In the first place, Captain Davenant took upon himself to object to your téte-a-téte with ‘that fellow Lionel Butler. It was,’ he declared, ‘ unusual—unheard of-—undignified! he would not allow it!’ You are not easily roused, but you were roused at this, and you said that he had no right to dictate to you, that he had lost all right! Is not this somewhere near the mark ? ” Eve smiled, a little faint wintry smile, and Lottie proceeded. ‘‘ He ‘wondered what you could possibly see in Lionel Butler— unpolished, uncivilised—a perfect Goth—that neither of you under- stood the rules of good society !—you did not seem to be aware what was correct and what was not!’—so on, ad infinitum; and then you turned upon him. Did you turn upon him, Eve?” ‘Lottie, I think you must have heard every word.” “But I haven’t done yet. You conquered him—you shamed him—you brought him to your feet, and he forgot that there was such a person in the world as Lottie !* He declared that it was you he loved—and that he was jealous, furiously jealous! But you did not forget me, Eve! you were true as steel to your friend, and you left him—left him in his passion and his grief and his remorse, with- out daring to give one look behind !” Eve only answered with her tears, and Lottie went on. ‘“‘ And now for my confession! Balzac’ says that a woman’s friendship is much better worth having than her love. I gave you all mine, and was romantic enough to wish to prove it by an act of self-immolation, which everybody except yourself would have understood. Your love for Harry Davenant perplexed and troubledme. Self-satisfied and shallow, he was, as I imagined, carelessly and arrogantly trifling with your deep affection, and I made up my mind that no sacrifice could be too great whereby to force you into seeing him, not in the colours of your fancy, but in his own true colours: man of the world, heart- less and mercenary. No words of mine could have persuaded you of CoOnniclbooolks (CO) im