"
Madame Merle's hands were clasped in her lap; at this she raised
them, still clasped, and held them a moment against her bosom while
her eyes, a little dilated, fixed themselves on those of her friend.
"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. Her charm includes great
cleverness."
"She never dreamed, I'm sure, of my husband's doing anything for
her; and I never dreamed of it either, for he never spoke to me of his
intention," Mrs. Touchett said. "She had no claim upon him whatever;
it was no great recommendation to him that she was my niece.
Whatever she achieved she achieved unconsciously.
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