But since you're so much interested in Mr.
Goodwood I won't conceal from you that he returns immediately to
America."
"You don't mean to say you've sent him off? " Henrietta almost
shrieked.
"I asked him to leave me alone; and I ask you the same,
Henrietta." Miss Stackpole glittered for an instant with dismay and
then passed to the mirror over the chimney-piece and took off her
bonnet. "I hope you've enjoyed your dinner," Isabel went on.
But her companion was not to be diverted by frivolous
propositions. "Do you know where you're going, Isabel Archer?"
"Just now I'm going to bed," said Isabel with persistent frivolity.
"Do you know where you're drifting?" Henrietta pursued, holding
out her bonnet delicately.
"No, I haven't the least idea, and I find it very pleasant not to
know. A swift carriage, of a dark night, rattling with four horses
over roads that one can't see- that's my idea of happiness."
"Mr. Goodwood certainly didn't teach you to say such things as that-
like the heroine of an immoral novel," said Miss Stackpole. "You're
drifting to some great mistake."
Isabel was irritated by her friend's interference, yet she still
tried to think what truth this declaration could represent.
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