"Ah," she cried, "the clever creature!" Mrs.Touchett gave her a quick look.

"What do you mean by that ?" For an instant Madame Merle's colour rose and she dropped her eyes.

"It certainly is clever to achieve such results--without an effort!" "There assuredly was no effort.

Don't call it an achievement." Madame Merle was seldom guilty of the awkwardness of retracting what she had said; her wisdom was shown rather in maintaining it and placing it in a favourable light.

"My dear friend, Isabel would certainly not have had seventy thousand pounds left her if she had not been the most charming girl in the world.