"Any eavesdroppers ?" he asked.

"Hush! Whisper--this is serious--whisper! What was it I was going to tell you?
What was the secret, old boy ?" Mountjoy answered a little too readily: "I think it related to Mrs.
Vimpany." Mrs.Vimpany's husband threw himself back in his chair, snatched a dirty handkerchief out of his pocket, and began to cry.
"Here's a false friend!" the creature whimpered.

"Asks me to dinner, and takes advantage of my dependent situation to insult my wife.

The loveliest of women, the sweetest of women, the innocentest of women.
Oh, my wife! my wife!" He suddenly threw his handkerchief to the other end of the room, and burst out laughing.

"Ho! ho! Mountjoy, what an infernal fool you must be to take me seriously.