It is what nine men out of ten
do."
"Of course," Helen assented, "but after all it has come about by his
giving in on one thing after another. There was always a good deal that
is attractive about him, but he never showed much moral stamina. He
could never have married as he did if he had possessed fine instincts."
"And his wife?" Ashe inquired.
"Oh, he married a New York girl, who"--
"There, there," broke in Herman good-naturedly. "It is just as well not
to go into a characterization of Mrs. Rangely. I own that there isn't
much good to be said of her; so it is as well to let her pass."
"Well, so be it," his wife assented, smiling. "I have only to say," she
added, turning to her cousin, "that when Grant declines to have a woman
discussed it is equivalent to a condemnation more severe"--
"Nonsense," protested Herman. "Don't believe her, Ashe. As for Mrs.
Rangely, it's enough to say that she is merely an imitation in most
things, and that she has called out the worst of her husband's nature
instead of the best. I'm sorry to say it, but I'm afraid it's true."
Mrs. Herman looked at him with a smile which seemed to tease him for
having been betrayed into saying a thing so much more severe than were
his usual judgments.
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