"Why?"

"It would encourage confidences. There isn't another woman in Sialpore
whom I could tell what I'm going to say to you. The others would repeat
it to their husbands, or--"

"I tell mine everything. Every word!"

"Or they'd try to work me on the strength of it for little favors--"

"Wait until you know me! Little favors don't appeal to me. I like them
big--very big!"

"Honestly, Theresa--"

"Better call me Mrs. Blaine."

"Honestly, there's nothing under heaven that--"

"That you really know about me. I know there isn't. You were going
to tell secrets. I'm listening."

"You're a hard-hearted woman!"

She had contrived by that time to extract a letter from the envelope
behind her back, but how to read it without informing Samson was
another matter. As she turned up the path for the sixth time, the sight
of Tom Tripe making semi-surreptitious signals to attract her attention
convinced her that the message was urgent and that she should not
wait to read it until after her last guests were gone. It was only one