There was nothing to be got out of her, however, and I tried hard enough, goodness knows.

You might as well wring a dry sponge." "And the man you married ?" "Oh, he was there, too--off and on everyday; but he kept me as much in the dark as Sarah.

He always persisted in speaking French to me--that I might fail to recognize his voice, I dare say; and he spoke it as fluently as a Frenchman.

But he was really an agreeable companion, could talk about everything I liked to talk about, could play the piano to a charm, and I should have liked him immensely if he had not been my husband, and if he had not worn that odious mask.

Do you know, Miriam," flashing a sudden look up, "if he had taken off that mask, and showed me the handsome face of one of my rejected suitors I did not absolutely abhor, I think I should have consented to stay with him always.