But I am not afraid of a foreigner. Besides, I
rather like the idea of taking in Europe, too. It enlarges the field
of selection. When you choose from a greater number, you can bring your
choice to a finer point!"
"You talk like Sardanapalus!" exclaimed Tristram.
"You say all this to the right person," said Newman's hostess. "I happen
to number among my friends the loveliest woman in the world. Neither
more nor less. I don't say a very charming person or a very estimable
woman or a very great beauty; I say simply the loveliest woman in the
world."
"The deuce!" cried Tristram, "you have kept very quiet about her. Were
you afraid of me?"
"You have seen her," said his wife, "but you have no perception of such
merit as Claire's."
"Ah, her name is Claire? I give it up."
"Does your friend wish to marry?" asked Newman.
"Not in the least. It is for you to make her change her mind. It will
not be easy; she has had one husband, and he gave her a low opinion of
the species."
"Oh, she is a widow, then?" said Newman.
"Are you already afraid? She was married at eighteen, by her parents, in
the French fashion, to a disagreeable old man. But he had the good taste
to die a couple of years afterward, and she is now twenty-five."
"So she is French?"
"French by her father, English by her mother.
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