G. A. Birmingham

“ I am not, I trust, prejudiced or narrow-minded; but, as a clergyman, I do not feel that I am the proper man to cope with an emancipated lady novelist. I failed altogether to guess why Miss Bently should want to see me.
"It will be all right," said Mrs. Danton. "She won't talk that way. Lady Egerton would not have sent her here if she was in the least—in fact, now I have found out what she wrote, I'm rather surprised that Lady Egerton did send her here. ”

“ I said, "'Turquoise and Pearl' is the most disgusting thing I ever read."
"You seem to be getting on very well with Miss Bently all the same," said Mrs. Danton.
I saw that she was laughing at me, and I very nearly hated her; although she is, in spite of anything Margaret can say, a very charming woman.
"She didn't write it," I said, "and it's an abominable insult——"
"I know she didn't," said Mrs. Danton. "Don't be angry with me. I only found out my mistake to-night. I'd have told you before dinner if I'd got a chance. I was talking to Tom about it. ”

“ Afterwards, while Tom Danton, the Colonel, the stock-broker, the barrister, and the boy were telling each other fishing stories of extraordinarily imaginative power, I reflected on Miss Bently. My sister Margaret, who of course understands such matters much better than I do, has often told me that any intelligent woman can make a fool of any man. ”

“ I said. "She's reading a paper next month before the British Association on Gaelic and Icelandic roots."
"But she is a novelist," said Margaret. "You told me so, yesterday."
"I was mistaken. She never wrote a novel in her life and I hope she never will."
"I am sorry to hear it. There's no money to be got out of Icelandic roots."
Margaret prides herself on her strong common sense. I am inclined to regard her as occasionally sordid.
Just before I went up to dress for dinner a boy came to the door with a note. It was from Mrs. Danton. ”

“ As a rule Lady Egerton is quite the opposite, quite; almost too much so. She disapproves dreadfully of poor Tom. You needn't be afraid."
"I'm not afraid," I said untruthfully. Mrs. Danton was smiling and seemed inclined to laugh outright. "The fact is that Margaret, my sister Margaret, promised that we'd go up to tea at the Rectory to-morrow night."
"Put them off," said Mrs. Danton, "and bring Margaret with you. She'll be one woman too many, but I'll fit her in."
Margaret would, I knew, detest being "fitted in." She has a high sense of personal dignity. She also dislikes Mrs. ”

“ Miss Bently is quite a good-looking girl. I thought beforehand that she might be good-looking in a handsome, showy style. I did not expect her to be a girl. As a matter of fact she looked little more than a child. ”