Isabel looked hard at her cousin; but the mocking spirit, if it lurked in his words, failed on this occasion to peep from his face. "Do you wish Madame Merle to be banished?"
"By no means. She＇s much too good company.I delight in Madame Merle," said Ralph Touchett simply.
"You＇re very odious, sir!" Isabel exclaimed. And then she asked him if he knew anything that was not to the honour of her brilliant friend.
"Nothing whatever. Don＇t you see that＇s just what I mean? On the character of every one else you may 昀nd some little black speck; if I were to take half an hour to it, some day, I＇ve no doubt I should be able to 昀nd one on yours. For my own, of course, I＇m spotted like a leopard. But on Madame Merle＇s nothing, nothing, nothing!"