Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: III. MISS ELLEN THORNEYCROFT FOWLER. [A Double Thread.] " Nothing in a woman, my dear Ethel- frida, betrays such lack of social savoir faire as the habit of telling- fibs," said Lady Wol- verhampton. " No sensible man ever believes that a woman means what she says; and that makes it so much safer to tell the truth. That's how I married Wolverhamp- ton. I told him I had never cared for any man, and he at once became jealous—as I meant he should. If a woman ever becomes a bishop-elect it will be quite useless for her to say, ' Non volo episcopare.' " " By your ladyship's leave, is it not' Nolo episcopari' ? " said Lord Bathbrick. " If you were not a man, Bathbrick," replied Lady Wolverhampton, " you would know that knowledge of the Classics is such bad form in a woman ; almost like working for your living. But, talking of the sexes, I wonder, Ethelfrida, that you have never married any one. It seems such an oversight ; the sort of thing that is inexcusable in a well-bred girl." The heiress turned a cynical eye upon her visitor. " It would be worth while to be a beggar-maid," she said, " if one could make sure of being taken in to dinner by Cophe- tua. As it is, I am modest enough to believe that my money is the only reason for my popularity." " And a very good reason too, my dear," said Lady Wolverhampton, " if you must have one ; though there is nothing so unreasonable as a good reason. No man ever yet married a woman for herself, seeing that he could have no possible means of knowing what her actual self was like. They marry us for our hair, or our faces, or the virtues they think we have, or the money of which they are quite certain. And none of these, not even our hair, is an essential part of our permanent selves." " But I thought, dear lady," interrupt...