Leah held her peace. It annoyed the ordinarily self-possessed woman, that for one fierce moment emotion should have overleaped judgment. Reining in her passions, she relapsed into the sober jog-trot necessary on the rutted road of conventionality. But Lionel's final speech provoked a laugh. Would his laudation of the dead, she wondered, change to criticism of the living, did he learn the truth? Feminine desire for the last word would have blurted out this final argument, but that an innate masculine discretion recommended silence. Therefore did she compromise with the laugh, which Lionel, misunderstanding, resented with the warmth of a generous nature. "That is positively cruel," said he, indignantly. "Very human, I think," said Lady Jim, yawning away the reaction. Following his own line of thought, the curate did not traverse this statement. "A woman can make of a man what she pleases." "Possibly; but I had a beast to deal with." "Can't you think more kindly of him, now that he is gone?" "No," said Leah, decisively. "I would not say so to every one, but I do to you, out of respect for your character." "I am both flattered and grieved. Be lenient, Lady James. Are you so good yourself, that you can refuse charity to the dead?" Leah shrugged her shoulders and crossed her feet. "That's a trifle personal, isn't it?" she asked good-humouredly; "like the rest of this futile conversation. Well, for the first time and the last, I shall pay you the compliment of defending myself. To begin with, my friend, your definition of good and bad depends upon dogma, so we disagree at the outset." "Let us take the primary instincts of being, and----" "Oh, I fear we have not the time to begin with Genesis. What is left of poor Jim arrives in charge of M. Demetrius within two hours, and I must prepare myself for the scene there is bound to be. To be brief in my defence, I can safely say that I am better than most women. I never gave Jim the chances he gave me of appearing in the divorce court. I keep my temper, even when most provoked. I don t say nasty things about those who run me down, and always help those I like. I avoid the use of slang and of excessively strong drink. I neither smoke, nor indulge in morphine. I invariably go to church, with half a crown for the plate; and--and--I think that includes all my virtues. What more would you have?" "Unselfishness," responded Lionel, gravely; "egotism is your sin." "And the world's. I might inquire with the Apostles, and I do inquire, with all curiosity, 'Who then can be saved?'"