WHITEWASH
to the calumniator? "The greater the truth the greater the libel" works more ways than one.
"Philippa," he said, apparently coming out of a brown study, "you are the sweetest, dearest woman in the world. I shall never forget your kindness and charity, as I can never forget your loveliness and truth. My lady of goodness! I believe there is not another such combination of beauty, brains, and sincerity on the face of the earth." "How she swallowed it all!" he added to himself.
She drew out her tiny jewelled watch and glanced at it with a pout. "We must go soon," she murmured, reluctantly. "Aunt Lucy keeps such close count of my every moment, and"—she turned her innocent eyes to his face—"I do so hate deception."
"And she really believes it," he thought, delightedly; "she honestly thinks herself the soul of truth!"
"Not yet," he begged aloud; "a few moments more or less count very little to Aunt Lucy, while to me—you don't realize what they are to me!
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