XXX
SCANDAL AND BANGLES
FOR years I have not been so angry as I am at this minute; I have very nearly lost my temper, and the reason is really ridiculous. Why I should choose this as a favourable opportunity for writing to you I cannot tell, but my tormentor had no sooner left the room than I seized the pen, which is nearly always ready to my hand, and you are the victim. The cause of this unusual and unseemly frame of mind is a girl, quite a pretty girl, who walked in here, sans cérémonie, and, after a few minutes’ desultory conversation, told me a preposterous piece of gossip about myself, a fantastic story in which there was not a grain of truth.
“Who says that?” I asked.
“Everybody says so.”
“Then everybody is mistaken.”
“Of course you deny it; but it is true, all the same.”
“It is not in the least true, and I am prepared to swear that in any form of oath.”
“I dare say you are, but no one will believe you.”
“Very well. Now what does your story rest upon?”