We Irish have the name of being a wild lot, I know;
but--well, if you don't mind my saying so, most of us would be rather
shy of you. I don't mind you myself in the least, of course. I'm not
that kind of man. Still, your reputation! You've been a good deal in
the papers, haven't you?"
Miss King, curiously enough, seemed pleased at this account of her
reputation. It is gratifying to a novelist to be famous, and even
notoriety is pleasant. She felt that, having braved the censure of
Lady Hawkesby, she could afford to despise the morality of the people
of Ballymoy.
"The Major?" she said. "You've mentioned him once or twice. What sort
of man is he? Does my work shock him?"
"I expect it does," said Meldon. "I haven't seen him for some time,
and so we haven't discussed you. But from what I know of him I should
say that your work, as you call it, will shock him frightfully. You
can't altogether blame him. He's a bachelor, and has very strict ideas
about a wife's duty to her husband."
Miss King was moved by a desire to startle Meldon. She was really
engaged on quite an innocent novel, but she chose to pretend that she
was going on in her old way.
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