Ascot,
Lord's, innumerable parties in London and in the country, to some of
which he had not been able to accompany her, owing to the stress of
Parliamentary and official work. Grosville Park, for instance--he had
been stopped at the last moment from going down there by the arrival of
some important foreign news, and Kitty had gone alone. She had
reappeared on the Monday, pale and furious, saying that she and her aunt
had quarrelled, and that she would never go near the Grosvilles either
in town or country again. She had not volunteered any further
explanation, and Ashe had refrained from inquiry. There were in him
certain disgusts and disdains, belonging to his general epicurean
conception of existence, which not even his love for Kitty could
overcome. One was a disdain for the quarrels of women. He supposed they
were inevitable; he saw, by-the-way, that Kitty and Lady Parham were
once more at daggers drawn; and Kitty seemed to enjoy it. Well, it was
her own affair; but while there was a Greek play, or a Shakespeare
sonnet, or even a Blue Book to read, who could expect him to listen?
What had old Lady Grosville been about? He understood that Cliffe had
been of the party.
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