"That's exactly it,--that's just what I meant to say,--that's it precisely. Oh how accurately that describes her!" The elegant widow was uncommonly agitated and anxious. Lord Henry noted her state of mind, and wondered what it signified. "I feel--people tell me,--I feel I ought perhaps to tell Leonetta----" "You are wondering," Lord Henry interrupted, hoping to help her, "whether it is your duty to enlighten the child at all concerning----" She sat down beside him. "Yes, I am," she said quickly. "Has she asked any questions?" Lord Henry demanded, allowing his hand for a moment to hang motionless from his mesh of hair and glancing up at the cornice. "No, I scarcely expect that," Mrs. Delarayne replied. "But in case. You see Cleopatra was so different. I never had any difficulty with her. Her reserve was always so rigid, I would have trusted her as a _cantiniere_ in a barracks of Zouaves. I never spoke a word about anything to Cleopatra. But Leonetta!" "Yes, I see. You think Leonetta different?" "What ought I to do? Do help me! Some say this and some say that. Some say that a mother should speak; some say that they never did, and they don't see why I should. My sister, Miss Mallowcoid, you know, says I ought to." Lord Henry gave vent to an expletive of contempt. "I'll do what you say;--only what you say," said the harassed matron, resting a hand on his. "You should begin, my dear lady," Lord Henry replied, "by utterly distrusting all the nonsense the modern world says on this subject." "But I do,--I don't! I mean, I pay no heed to what anybody says but you." A shadow from the Inner Light passed across Lord Henry's mind; but that, he rightly imagined, was the widow's last little fortress against him. "The bond that unites parent to child is a very precious one," Lord Henry continued. "It is, however, as brittle as it is precious. A trifle will snap it. Now there is one aspect of the relationship between parent and child, the physical aspect, the physical relation, which lies beneath a sort of sacred seal: it is deliberately never fully realised; it does not require to be fully realised, particularly by the child----" Mrs. Delarayne nodded quickly and smiled. "Think of the havoc you may create, through yourself breaking this seal by calling this delicate aspect into prominence, by discussing with your child all those matters which, as between you and her, by virtue of your relationship, are a closed book!" "Yes, I see, I see," cried the widow quickly. "My feelings, my instincts, were always against it from the very start, and I see now that I was right." "The modern world is immensely stupid; few of us know how immensely stupid it is. Everything that modern thought expresses, on this subject, particularly, you must feel sure therefore is utterly and radically absurd. You cannot afford to weaken the precious bond that unites you to your children; therefore do not attempt this business."