Phyllis Bottome

“ He gave up argument and fell back upon simple invective.
"I won't be good to her," he asserted. "I hate her. I always did hate that kind of woman and I'm not likely to like her any better for having her palmed off on me to paint when I want to be with you." ”

“ Emily frowned. She did n't like talking about flesh and blood.
"I don't suppose, Fanny," she said, "that you know what the love of a good man is. It is far higher and finer and more disinterested than you can imagine. Mr. Amberley loves me in an ideal way. He only wants what is best for us both; he knows that in the deepest sense of all I am his forever."
"Of course a man 'll do what you want," Fanny agreed, "while he's keen about you; that's where you get them. Still, what I say is, live and let live. No matter how funny his ideas are, a man's a man, is n't he? ”

“ Emily smiled gently.
"You don't know how wonderful you are, dearest," she said inexorably. "Fanny came back from the country this morning; she is n't really strong yet. The whole thing will fit in perfectly; besides, I don't want Marcel Dupin to see her. He is just the kind of man who might be bad for Fanny. I want her taken out of his way. You will help her far more than you know. The quiet companionship of a man who respects women will be like another life to her. You realize, dearest, how utterly I trust you?"
Geoffrey groaned ”