Lucinda by Antonio Hope — Read

THERE was the situation; for Godfrey was quick enough to see what had happened as soon as he had read Arsenio's letter; he finished it, which was more than I had done, and so found more lies than I had. We discussed the situation far into the night, Godfrey still doing most of the talking. He had come to Paris to see me about it, to ask my advice or to put some question to me; but he had not really got the problem clear in his mind. On subsidiary points-or, perhaps, one should rather say, on what seemed such to him-his view was characteristic, and to me amusing. He thought that most of Nina's anger was due to the fact that she had been "done" by Arsenio, that he had got her money for Lucinda and for himself on false pretenses; whereas Nina was really furious with Lucinda herself for not having consciously accepted her charity, and made comparatively little of friend Arsenio's roguery.

He was much more full of admiration of Lucinda for not minding being discovered carrying a bandbox-and for laughing at her encounter with Lady Dundrannan while she was doing it-than of appreciation of her indignation over the blue frock; he thought she made a great deal too much of that. "Since she didn't know, what does it come to?" he asked.