She must be
free, and I shall not attempt to coerce her."
"Or to protect her!" cried his mother.
"As to that, I shall do what I can. But I clearly foresaw when we
married that we should scandalize a good many of the weaker brethren."
He smiled, but, as it seemed to his mother, with some effort.
"William! as a public man--"
He interrupted her.
"If I can be both Kitty's husband and a public man, well and good. If
not, then I shall be--"
"Kitty's husband?" cried Lady Tranmore, with an accent of bitterness,
almost of sarcasm, of which she instantly repented her. She changed her
tone.
"It is, of course, Kitty, first and foremost, who is concerned in your
public position," she said, more gently. "Dearest William--she is so
young still--she probably doesn't quite understand, in spite of her
great cleverness. But she
does care--she
must care--and she ought to
know what slight things may sometimes affect a man's prospects and
future in this country."
Ashe said nothing. He turned on his heel and resumed his pacing. Lady
Tranmore looked at him in perplexity.
"William, I heard a rumor last night--"
He held his cigarette suspended.
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