Think of
that!"
He reflected for a moment.
"Yes," he said, after a pause, "I have news of all sorts--news which
goes to prove that you are quite right to take an apartment instead
of going to the hotel. The Mangles arrived here this morning--Mangles
frere, Mangles soeur, and Miss Cahere. I say, Cartoner--" He paused, and
examined his own boots with a critical air.
"I say, Cartoner, how old do you put me?"
"Fifty."
"All that, mon cher?--all that? Old enough to play the part of an old
fool who excels all other fools."
Cartoner took up his pen again. He had suddenly thought of something to
put down, and in his odd, direct way proceeded to write, while Deulin
watched him.
"I say," said the Frenchman at length, and Cartoner paused, pen in
hand--"what would you think of me if I fell in love with Netty Cahere?"
"I should think you a very lucky man if Netty Cahere fell in love with
you," was the reply.
The Frenchman shrugged his shoulders.
"Yes," he said. "I have known you a good many years, and have gathered
that that is your way of looking at things. You want your wife to be in
love with you. Odd! I suppose it is English. Well, I don't know if there
is any harm done, but I certainly had a queer sensation when I saw Miss
Cahere suddenly this morning.
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