Diana, have you really performed suttee, have you buried yourself alive in this sweet spot deliberately, or has the love of retirement grown upon you, and have you become a kind of lotus-eater ?' 'I believe I have become a kind of lotus-eater.

My retirement here has been no sentimental sacrifice to Lord Maulevrier's memory.' 'I am glad to hear that; for I really think the worst possible use a woman can make of her life is in wasting it on lamentation for a dead and gone husband.

Life is odiously short at the best, and it is mere imbecility to fritter away any of our scanty portion upon the dead, who can never be any the better for our tears.' 'My motive in living at Fellside was not reverence for the dead.

And now let us talk of the gay world, of which you know all the secrets.

Have you heard anything more about Lord Hartfield ?' 'Ah, there is a subject in which you have reason to be interested.