No More Learning

He
said he had not. He swore he had not," said Mrs. Vansuythen.

The purdah rustled, and the speech was cut short by the entry of a
little, thin woman with big rings round her eyes. Mrs. Vansuythen stood
up with a gasp.

"What was that you said? " asked Mrs. Boulte. "Never mind that man. What
did Ted say to you? What did he say to you? What did he say to you? "

Mrs. Vansuythen sat down helplessly on the sofa, overborne by the
trouble of her questioner.
"He said--I can't remember exactly what he said--but I understood him
to say--that is--But, really, Mrs. Boulte, isn't it rather a strange
question? "

"Will you tell me what he said? " repeated Mrs. Boulte.

Even a tiger will fly before a bear robbed of her whelps, and Mrs.
Vansuythen was only an ordinarily good woman. She began in a sort of
desperation: "Well, he said that he never cared for you at all, and,
of course, there was not the least reason why he should have,
and--and--that was all. "

"You said he swore he had not cared for me. Was that true? "

"Yes," said Mrs. Vansuythen, very softly.

Mrs. Boulte wavered for an instant where she stood, and then fell
forward fainting.

"What did I tell you? " said Boulte, as though the conversation had been
unbroken.