"That is just as you choose," said I.
"Oh! as far as I am concerned, my dear Marcus, I am perfectly indifferent," replied Judith, assuming the supercilious expression with which women invariably try to mask inordinate curiosity.
"Then," said I, with a touch of malice, "there is no reason why you should make her acquaintance." "I should be able to see through her tricks and put you on your guard." "Against what ?" She shrugged her shoulders as if it were vain to waste breath on so obtuse a person.
"You had better bring her round some afternoon," she said.
Have I acted wisely in confessing Carlotta to Judith?
And why do I use the word "confess"?
Far from having committed an evil action, I consider I have exhibited exemplary altruism.

Did I want a "young savage from Syria" to come and interfere with my perfectly ordered life?
Judith does not realise this.

I had a presentiment of the prejudice she would conceive against the poor girl, and now it has been verified.

I wish I had held my tongue.

As Judith, for some feminine reason known only to herself, has steadily declined to put her foot inside my house, she might very well have remained unsuspicious of Carlotta's existence.