The Cardinal-deacon of St. Cosmas and St. Damian did it. The acts
of the consistory, in so far as they related to the calumny against
the Pope, duly appeared in the _Times_ and the _Globe_ and the
_New York Times_ as news which was fit to print. Innumerable other
papers lifted them with acknowledgments. No comment was made. The
collared-puppy-in-the-Tube, and the spectacled-person-in-the-motor-car,
and the female-with-the-loaf-coloured-hat-at-the-bargain-sale, forgot
all about George Arthur Rose: paid no attention whatever to the
Pope; and violently sat up on their hind-legs regarding the Supreme
Arbitrator. France and Russia emitted caricatures and howls; and
prepared to invade Belgium and Sweden, with the intention of descending
on Germany from three sides.
Mrs. Crowe became conscious that she had lost rather than had gained
by her connection with Jerry Sant. The English Catholics treated her
as they are wont to treat converts after the first three months; and
shewed her the cold shoulder. The refutation of her latest calumny had
made her look foolish--and something dirtier than foolish. She was
mortified: she was angry with herself; and she naturally yearned to
tear and mangle everybody else. She thought that the best thing which
she could do would be to pose as a much deceived woman, to break that
disastrous connection with the Liblabs, and to return (if possible) to
the status quo ante. So she went and fell upon Jerry, vituperating him
for the accented failure of his schemes--for leading an innocent lady
astray with his nastiness, and his pig-headed stupidity, and all that.
She frankly told him that he had gone too far. The precious pair "had
words"; and finally separated. Jerry remained at his hotel, dumb and
dangerous, brooding. As for the lady, respectable mediocrity allured
her by the prospect which it offered of a not unfamiliar obscurity,
where she might try to piece-together the shreds and tatters of her
reputation. She had a little money left--and with economy----She would
stay just a little longer. Who knew what might happen?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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